Duel Universe
by The Cowboy OK
Summary: With almost half the worlds population, 2.8 billion, now dead or missing in the span of only a few months. The planet was considered something to be abandoned by the world government...
1. The End is only the Beg (08-13 17:09:01)

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 1: The End is only the Beginning

/ word count: 1952

Earth, year 2057, but not the world you think you would know it to be. As of yesterday, the planet was considered something to be abandoned. With almost half the worlds population, 2.8 billion, now dead or missing in the span of only a few months. Wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. This isn't the beginning of this story, I need to go back in time to truly begin this tale.

"Welcome to the end of the world."

It was just another day in the normal ol' City of Domino, people were waking up, eating breakfast, and heading off to work or school. No one was worried about food or drink, no wars were being fought in far away lands, this day was just like any other, quiet, serene, peaceful. As for me, I just got off my shift and I was really tired, being a night owl has its perks, but it also means I have to make some sort of noise, be it a low tone movie or semi-soft music, to drown out the noises of the world outside so I can let myself be swayed to sleep, but unfortunately that was the last peaceful sleep I will have had for the next few weeks. While I slept the world away, sawing logs to my heart's content, there was something else stirring in the solar system.

A few hours ago; just past Mars, a speck was moving at incredible speeds towards Earth. Deep Space Satellites, or D.S.S, some simply observing the starry void, while others were actual relay hubs for communication back and forth from a small scientific colony on the surface of Mars, picked up the quiet intruder. The asteroid wasn't very big, estimated the size of a small house, which considering when it broke up upon entering the atmosphere, wouldn't be bigger than a small compact car when it would hit the ground. Of course, the problem would be estimating exactly where it would hit the ground. Scientists, astrologists, even mathematicians would calculate it's size, speed, the time frame on when the asteroid would intersect earth, and when that was done, where it would make landfall.

"It took scientist 5 hours," the newscaster said, "experts say it will make landfall somewhere in the Russian Siberian Tundra."

The citizenry the world over obviously took this as need to break into riots, throwing bricks into store windows, where store owners began price gouging to unheard of heights. Trying to grab as much cash from as many people as possible. Zealots using it as a way to push their own political agendas for spiritual dominance. Local authorities and military were trying to quell the rioters, pushing them back. Molotov cocktails were thrown and fires scattered as the glass broke on contact with hard surfaces. 6 hours after I was able to fall asleep, I woke to unusual noises outside, some screams, but it was the occasional gunshot that really, heh, shot me out of bed. Peeking out my window, I saw the signs of a riot in the distance. Turning, I reached for my TV remote and switched it over to the only news station still running.

"The comet is now an hour from breaching the Earth's upper atmosphere." She continued, "The comet is about half its original estimated size when first monitored near Mars. Scientists have estimated it should break up even more before striking the ground somewhere in Northern Russia," she concluded before I turned off the TV as I finished getting dressed in my fatigues. Okay, so why are people going crazy here? What I should have done was turn on the TV and watch more of the news, check social media outlets to get the feel of what's going on. Yeah, I didn't do that. I just grabbed my gear then ran out the door to go to roll call.

Elsewhere in the world, the comet was finally making landfall, the sonic boom broke glass windows and shattered china sets for miles as it broke the sound barrier over Russia. The impact site was, thankfully, no where near any settlements. The United Nations and local Russian authorities moved in quickly to secure the site before some enterprising individuals tried to take the comet for themselves. All the information we got from this point on were reports from high ranking officials since absolutely no news stations were allowed near the site until it was considered secure, that never happened. The official story given is that the strange black goo came from inside the comet, it had ridden into the atmosphere safely inside the comets core. The only thing we were told is that the rock suddenly burst open as scientists began to take mineral samples and drilling small holes to get core samples.

A little earlier; in an undisclosed locations world-wide, high ranking officials and interested parties sat down in secret to watch the events on the ground unfold live via satellite. They watched as the comets surface exploded suddenly, and the strange substance splattered onto virtually every individual present, helmet cams tell the rest of the story. People were shocked at first, gasps of surprise at the outburst, then the occasional laugh at the surprise happening, but it took less than five seconds for the first yelp of pain, then the screaming started to ring out. The camera suddenly switched to an overhead shot from some command tent or vehicle, frantic movement was seen from every individual except the commanding officers, who was busy barking orders and questions at any that heard, but the sickening screams and flat tone of multiple heart monitors began to drown out even the shouting.

Soon, all movement inside was halted, the screaming and shouting had stopped, every person present was glued to either unseen monitors or windows, the only sound was the flat tone of death from still functioning heart monitors. Then there was an abrupt order to move the convoy when the screen screeched to a snowy static field. The screen was replaced again, but this time of an overhead view from either a satellite or drone, the crater, estimated a mile wide, was completely black. What was estimated to be the command structure was a lump of black goo. Before midnight that very night, the unknown substance was deemed too hazardous to be left alone. The next day the military and world governments alike, decided to just napalm the entire area and then go in with special equipment to confirm the utter destruction of the substance.

A week passed, time after time, bombs, nukes, gases, fire, liquid nitrogen, hydrogens, hell, even oxygen and carbon monoxide all of it. Every conventional, and unconventional weapon was fired against the substance, even illegal chemical compounds, nothing phased it longer than a 24hr period, then it didn't phase it ever again. Every effort that was rendered useless, since all it seemed to do was just make it stronger, grow larger, and move faster, were being tossed aside. All military options were being limited day by day, until a couple weeks after landfall. Plans were drawn up by the world governments to build fleets of space ferrying ships to carry as many of the remaining terran populace, animal and vegetation away from the planet as possible. All of the East Asian continent was lost to the unknown black substance. The rioting had picked up even more with more people scrambling to grab whatever they could get their hands on. I am part of a joint military task force, we were moved from our normal station based in Japan, to one on the united states west coast, base Coronado. Our task was to safeguard an underground base where one of the flying ships was to be designed and built.

Every technologically capable corporation and business, no matter how insignificant, was called upon to help with building resources, software programming, and construction. A location that stretched from North America to South America was designated as priority one protected grounds. Every able bodied person that could work, would build hangers, construct frames, solder motherboards, wield struts, tighten down and riveting bolts, and lifting heavy loads till their bones ached. Every other resource, such as food, water, clothe, nylons and polyester was being collected, and stored as well. Everything that was edible was being converted into a dehydrated state of M.R.E. for extra long durations of storage. Water was altered and mixed with a tasteless powder and made into a gelatinous like state so it would take longer for normal evaporation, and it wouldn't grow mold or mildew for years in sealed containers.

Yesterday something changed, it's been nearly 12 months since the whole...envasion...I guess, had started. In the amount of time that has passed, it was unfathomable just how much has gotten done. With all available resources brought to bare, nearly two dozen smaller flying vessels, roughly the size of a battleship and about a dozen larger carriers and space platforms ranging in size from aircraft carrier to small islands were completed in record time. The black goo had crept to cover nearly all of Africa now, the continents of Asia and Europe where long since lost. The goo was sentient, it was confirmed when small tests were made to see if the goo could be distracted. The goo would ignore the fake traps and go straight for more victi.., er, lifeforms. It was now building mass near the edges of the southern tips of Thailand and China, growing in size and height, in order to fling itself onto the island chains to the south, eventually reaching Australia in about another months time.

As many animals as possible were gathered and moved to different orbital platforms, and any animal that couldn't be taken aboard was moved in mass to the continental Americas. They would be bred, multiplied, and eventually, slowly, rendered into a food source for humans and other animals alike, and now to what is so important about what's recently changed, just before Europe was completely taken, there was a chance given to the rest of the world. Three random civilians took up a card game and the tech designed to play it, and attempted to attack the black blob in some sort of a last ditch effort. Everyone had written off their deaths as inevitable, multiple people had tried to get them to run and not throw away their lives. News cameras and other surveillance devices watched as these few stood definitely against a for Earth was ill equipped to face. That is, until one of them suddenly raised an arm and placed a card onto their wrist device, a brilliant white light flashed, and a dragon of blue and white rose into the sky. Wings flapping making a rush of wind, send dust and particles flying in all directions.

The individual that had done this, raised an arm and pointed at the mass headed straight for them shouting, 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon! White Lightning Attack!!' The dragon seemed to build energy in its maw and then released it upon the goo. To the amazement of everyone watching, the blob suddenly seemed to be pushed back by the effort, somewhat scorched and possibly screeching as it fell back. Then a black dragon with glowing red eyes joined the fight and what can best be described as a mythical purple magician flared to life in front of everyone and blasted the blob back even more. 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Inferno Fire Blast!!' 'Dark Magician! Dark Magic Attack!!' Silence could heard around the world, something so meaningless suddenly became the most important weapon in humanity's arsenal for survival.

Duel Monsters!

(**_Author's note_**: I need help with different deck ideas, but decks cannot be the regular, everyday consistent or competitive builds. The decks must adhere to the rules of this world. Resources are scarce, cards cannot be made in multiples freely. Stronger cards are rare and hard to find.)

1\. Decks must be no more than 50 cards in the main deck, however the extra deck can hold up to 20 single cards. (with few exceptions)

2\. Every card must be set to 1 per deck, unless the card is weak in terms of stats or effect. The only exception are cards that are required for a special summons or a unique card effect that calls for 2-3 of a particular card by its original printed name. ("This card is always treated as…" does not count.)

3\. Unique cards, originally created by duel or spirit energies in the official anime or manga, for specific characters or decks, can only have 1 of those cards in existence in this world. No copies will have been made.

4\. Fighting the goo is scripted, but you must still adhere to the cards effects and summoning requirements.

5\. Duels are to be played out normally. The outcome will effect the storyline going forward.

6\. Custom cards are not allowed!!!


	2. Prisoner 627

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 2: Prisoner 627

/ word count: 2271

Six months after the events in Europe, duelists world wide took up their duel disks and began fighting the goo. There was no significant progress or even that they could push it back, at best, when a group of them stood together, they could hold it off for a few minutes, once was an hour. But the goo always built up and either eventually over took them or they just pulled out and it would move on like nothing even happened. Duelists were used on many fronts to delay the goos progress. Allowing for the evacuation and saving of as many lives as possible. All too often at the expense of the lives of the duelists themselves. I had my share of facing off against the goo, I found that one massive explosive burst of energy was the key to giving nearly twenty minutes of clearance before the goo would move in again, and I mean massive! As in making a monsters stats reach up to or over 5000 in a single move, following a board wipe or two attacks of such magnitude on top of each other. I was assigned to Coronado, an inland naval base in the state of California. Engineers here were tasked in assembling some of the spaceships, like the Gotango. Resources coming up from the south, if they weren't going to the west coast, always passed through here. We did drills and maneuvers in case we had to pull out suddenly. As the Gotango neared completion, personnel were routinely shipped further south to work on other ships or to secure other bases. Nuclear power plants were slowly shut down, all materials not needed to power bases or for the ships being constructed, were moved south. Soon, there was only a handful of bases in the north left with any personnel to them, mainly because they were where ship construction sites were located.

Coronado Base:

I was woken to alarm klaxons inside the base, the intercom crackled to life, "All units to their posts! All units to their posts!" "This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!" Grabbing my gear, I danced the quick-dress-without-watching-what-your-doing dance. Snapping buckles and slinging straps, putting everything where it belongs, lastly placing my cover on my head as I'm jogging down the hallway towards my designated post. Finding the base CO, Rear Admiral Fleetfoot, on the way, "Sir! What's going on!?" I saluted and asked.

"The goo has made it past the Arctic Circle Lieutenant Commander," was the reply, "Canada has been invaded and the outcome isn't good." He explained.

"That's an understatement sir."

"Just get to your post until told otherwise." He ordered.

"Aye sir." I saluted.

Leaving the CO, I continued my jog for another 40 seconds until I reached my post. Jumping into the seat and firing up the monitors and sensors, the whirl of machinery coming to life. The monitors snapped to life and three sets of turrets filled my screens, the system flew through a self check, aiming, and arming setup. It took about 30 seconds, I grabbed the joysticks and tested the movement of my cannons, all the reticules lined up on similar targets. I then sat and waited for a target to reveal itself or further orders.

The base stayed at red alert for about 15 minutes before we were told to stand at ease. However we couldn't relax too much, we were still in yellow alert, and the Rear Admiral had decided to tell the men what was happening.

"Sailors, Marines, the goo has breached our northernmost borders. All assets are to be moved south. We will begin loading all non-essential personnel and equipment. All weapons and remaining staff will be moved in the coming week. Until then, continue with maintenance, weapons check, and unit construction until you're relieved. That is all." The coms went silent.

Personnel that was able to, began their preparations for departure. When I was relieved of my duty, I went straight to the Admirals office to get any other further information I could before I went back to my quarters.

Knocking on the Admirals door, "Enter," came the reply, I did so, stepping in and quickly shutting the door behind me.

"Sir. Is there any preparations I can help with?"

Rear Admiral Fleetfoot, a salt and peppered haired man, eyes heavy with age, and bags under them due to lack of sleep, looked up over his glasses, "Lieutenant Commander Freeman, it's a shit show. The goo is still 100 kilometers from the actual boundary of the base in Canada, but there already scrambling to make their unit air worthy. They figure they have no more than 48hrs to at least make it float. But the HMCS Baddeck is in need of one final piece of equipment for her to be flight worthy. Then she can be moved to another base and finish being retrofit for space. The only problem is, the component is not in Canada."

I looked confused, "Then where is it sir?"

He pointed out the window to a hanger with a single crate sitting inside the belly of a Hercules model transports open bay. "It's sitting right over there."

"But, sir, shouldn't we be making the plane ready to go?" I asked.

"That we should, but this sudden order to depart has stretched our personnel too thin. We have a copilot and one ground crewman working to check the craft for flight now, but we don't have enough for even a skeleton crew." He explained.

"What do we need sir? I'll find it for you." I was quick to respond.

"We need a pilot and an instruments operator." He said.

Thinking for a moment, "well if someone will toss our belongings in some crates for us, I think I can do the instruments for one round trip flight." I explained.

"And the pilot?" He asked.

"You're not going to like this, but she was put in the brig last week for insubordination, destruction of military property and strikin..." I started to say.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me Ka'an! Her!?" He bellowed.

Walking to the barracks first to find the Warrant Officer in charge, I told him to have a sailor at my quarters in half an hour to meet me. Then I walked towards the prison complex, with orders in hand for the one person on base with a rap sheet longer than my arm. Insubordination, striking a superior, crashing multiple vehicles, and on and on. But they were the only one available for this mission. Walking into the entrance, I stepped up to the front security office.

"Orders for release of prisoner 627, Alpha Protocol, Urgent." I slapped the papers onto the desk and slide them under the glass to the monitor control room.

"One moment sir." Came the reply. "Proceed sir, do you need an escort?"

"No. I know where it is." I said as I turned away.

Making my way down the corridor, I passed mostly empty cells. With world destruction pretty much guaranteed, most everyone was being helpful and working to get ready to leave. There were the occasional dissidents, disregarding order, but...she, she was a special case for some reason. Locking horns with pretty much every officer she ever met and making every other person hate her guts. I sighed, as I reached a closed metal door, a small slit window and a little door for food trays.

I knocked, "prisoner 627?" I asked.

"Yer expectin someone else darlin?" Her voice sing songed out as if it was a stupid question.

A southern bell, she really doesn't act like a sailor at all.

"Stand at attention sailor!" I barked.

She jumped to her feet and gave a mock salute. "Woof!"

I rolled my eyes, then I noticed she was not wearing her full prison issued jumpsuit and left her lower half mostly uncovered, she's tall, good figure, and flaming red head of hair.

"Oh? Ye're not my Ward'n." She leaned onto the door and let her breath fog the small window, flittering her eyes seductively. "So, what can I DO ye fir?" She said flirtatiously, twitching her tail slightly.

"Stow it 627." I deadpanned, keeping a straight face. "There's a priority mission. Possible one way. Skeleton crew onboard a Hercules Carrier transport. Cargo for Base Northface in Canada, Priority Urgent."

"Ye said that already." Giving me sad puppy dog eyes as if I've hurt her feelings. "Well, ye could've gotten some of ye weren't such a stick-in-the-mud "

Ignoring her words. "We have less than 38hrs to get there and get out."

"Yeah, yeah. When do we leave."

"Now."

Walking back to the barracks, 627 in tow, the Warrant Officer in charge noticed our approach and saluted.

"Sir!" Ensign Jenkins is waiting at your quarters."

"Thank you Warrant Officer." I saluted back, when I reached him, then handed him some papers. "Make sure these items are found and moved to the departure sight." I ordered.

"Aye, sir." He complied.

Stepping inside, I walked at a brisk pace towards my quarters.

"Takin me to y'er place so soon after rejectin my advances?" She questioned flatly.

"I said stow it!" I grumbled.

"Humph! Ye ain't gettin none then." She said, crossing her arms.

Rolling my eyes, I reach my quarters and saw the Ensign, she was young with a good figure as well, her eye looked side long as we approached, then blushed slightly catching herself. She snapped to attention as I reached her.

"Sir." She saluted.

"At ease Jenkins. Step inside." Opening my door and stepping inside ahead of them both. "Jenkings, I'm headed out on a priority mission. I realize you might not have gotten your gear stowed yet, but I need you to pack all my stuff here and have it all at the departure point on time."

"Aye sir. I'm already packed and was the only one available sir." She stated.

"Already packed?" I asked.

"Yes sir, knowing that we would eventually be moving out on a moments notice or the base would be attacked, I only had some essentials unpacked. Everything else was stowed prior to the announcements." She explained.

I eyed her for a moment. Then went on my way. "Very well, as you were sailor." Turning to leave, "follow me 627!" I ordered

As I stepped out of my quarters, apparently, or so I've been lead to believe, Jenkins was "blushin redder than a tomato in the summer sun and stiflin a giggle."

Walking to the hangers, 627 started in on her usual bullshit.

"So, Jenkins, she's cute." She started.

"Stow it!" I ordered.

"Oh, I bet that's what she wanted ye to.." she began.

I turned suddenly and she nearly walked right into me, our faces were an inch apart.

"If I have to tell you to stow it one more time 627, so help me, you won't be leaving this planet when the rest of us are flying away!" I spat in her face. "I know you like to skirt the rules whenever it suits you, but I will not allow that kind of talk about myself, letting it off as just some joke!" My face was getting red from the anger boiling to the surface. "Now if there is nothing else you'd like to add that is pertinent to the mission at hand, I suggest you keep your trap shut unless you're spoken to!! AM I CLEAR!?"

"Aye sir." She said with a bit of disgust.

Without another word, I turned and headed for the hangers again.

Stepping up into the open cargo bay of the Hercules, the only other two there taking notice and snapping to attention, saluting.

"Sir." They said in unison.

"How's the cargo and plane?" I asked.

"Cargos ready and the birds flight ready, sir." The copilot said, eyeing the female behind me. "But we don't have a.."

"It's taken care of Lieutenant. She's the pilot." I interrupted.

"What's her name?" He asked.

"627 is all you're going to call her for this mission." I said.

"Aye..sir." He said with a questioning look.

"Good. Now you two," pointing to the Lieutenant and 627, "get up there and do your final flight checks. Then we take off." Turning to the ground crewman, "Ensign, hook this bird up and push us out of the hanger. Then check to make sure we are carrying max fuel capacity."

"Aye sir." He turned and ran out of the plane.

Settling into my seat behind the pilots as they went over the final checks and start up procedures. The plane was pushed out and lined up with the strip for taxing. Fuel was filled and all instruments and gauges read 100%. The crewman gave a thumbs up and salute to the pilots, then moved aside to allow the plane to move freely.

Getting clearance, priority take off, climbing to station keeping, and as ordered, 627 kept her mouth shut the entire flight as long as there wasn't anything prudent to say. The flight took nearly 7 hours to get into radar range of Northface Base.

Air traffic control chimed in, "Flight 82-0856, we have you on radar. Squawk ident, destination and cargo!" They ordered.

"This is Harbinger flight, destination is Northface Base, 1hr out, cargo is equipment for Baddeck vehicle completion." 627 stated.

There was a short pause then, "confirmed Harbinger, proceed to marker north east, and await permission to land." The tower came back.

"Roger Tower." She sighed the ing to me. "So can I..?"

"Quiet!" I ordered.

She turned and stared out the cockpit window staying silent.

(Author's note: I need help with different deck ideas, but decks cannot be the regular, everyday consistent or competitive builds. The decks must adhere to the rules of this world. Resources are scarce, cards cannot be made in multiples freely. Stronger cards are rare and hard to find.)

1\. Decks must be no more than 50 cards in the main deck, however the extra deck can hold up to 20 single cards. (with few exceptions)

2\. Every card must be set to 1 per deck, unless the card is weak in terms of stats or effect. The only exception are cards that are required for a special summons or a unique card effect that calls for 2-3 of a particular card by its original printed name. ("This card is always treated as…" does not count.)

3\. Unique cards, originally created by duel or spirit energies in the official anime or manga, for specific characters or decks, can only have 1 of those cards in existence in this world. No copies will have been made.

4\. Fighting the goo is scripted, but you must still adhere to the cards effects and summoning requirements.

5\. Duels are to be played out normally. The outcome will affect the storyline going forward.

6\. Custom cards are not allowed!!!

7\. The field used is the MR4, however the EMZ is strictly for link monsters and no other extra deck summoned card.


	3. Northface Base

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 3: Northface Base

/ word count: 2155

Northface Base:

We landed safely with minimal argument from air traffic control. The base commander had to order the transport onto the ground just to get it down faster. We landed as close to the necessary hanger and dropped the cargo ramp quickly. The ground crew didn't skip a beat and rushed in to release the clamps and grab the cargo with a hoverlift. The equipment disappeared into the hanger without a second word, while the base commander was heading towards the aircraft in a humvee. Stepping down from the cockpit, and then stepping off the transport, I waited for the commander to pull up.

"Lieutenant Commander Freeman, General Fornsburge." He said as we saluted each other. "Welcome to Northface."

He had a fair build for his age. Tall and lean, barely a grey hair in sight, Marine General indeed.

"The call just came through with your VIP cargo. I'm very grateful you made the trip so quickly." He said gratefully.

"Glad to be of service General. Your tech was just sitting in our hanger and we ran out of pilots last minute thanks to the evac orders and the attack. So I had to scrounge up a skeleton crew to bring it." I explained.

"Scrounge..." 627 huffed under her breath.

I turned and glared at her for a second, then brought my attention back to the General.

"Anything else we can do for you or your men while we're here sir? We could ferry some extra gear or personnel your craft may not be able to accommodate." I offered.

"Thanks, we've pretty much got everything under control here. Not much left to load beyond personnel when the final component is connected and tested. All other non-essentials were moved out days ago." He stated.

"Days sir? But the attack, or crossing, was just this morning." I noted.

"We've been monitoring it for some time now. We knew it was only a matter of time before it crossed the ice and ocean to reach this place, and 4 days ago all non-essential gear, and personnel, were systematically removed and only the required personnel for completing this task was left here, including myself." He explained.

"With all due respect sir, but you really shouldn't have stayed. You're too important for the human race to lose right now, and if the component hadn't have made it on time, we would have lost you sir."

"I was not about to leave my base or my men behind, nor leave this very important piece of hardware without a commanding officer."

"Hah, I suppose you're right about that sir, but it's still a risk you shouldn't be taking on yourself." I resigned.

"I think he's got the right ta' do whatever he pleases…" 627 began.

"Shut it 627! Your opinion was not given nor asked for!" I barked.

"627?" The general queried.

"Prisoner 627 reportin' fer duty sir!" She mocked with a salute.

"Ugh!" I facepalmed, then looked to the general. "Request fuel, food and to get underway sir. If we're not needed here. I need to get 627 back to her lovely accommodations at the Coronado prison facility." I said.

"Nonsense sailor. It shouldn't take more than 20hrs to complete the Baddeck and have her flight ready. I insist that you stay for the launch." He gestured towards the hangers. "Besides, if something goes wrong, you'll be the back up plan to getting out of here." He added.

"Aye sir. Then may I request that prisoner 627 be placed in custody until our departure? She has a habit of not following orders." I said.

"So be it. You two!" He gestured for two MPs to come forward. "Make sure that…, ugh what's her name and rank anyways?" He asked.

"She doesn't get a name, and she's a Lieutenant Commander, but the way things are going, there's no telling how long she'll keep even that." I stated.

"Take the Lieutenant Commander to her room and make sure she isn't disturbed or that she leaves, and no funny business while on my base either!" He ordered.

"Sir!" The MPs said in unison.

"Ah, and here I thought I'd get me some double.." she started.

"Move it 627!" I interrupted.

The MPs took her by the arms and lead her to accommodations elsewhere.

Following the General to his Humvee, the copilot and myself got in and then headed to the main building on base. The general started in on some small talk about why 627 was not being named and what was the name of our own flight vehicle.

"The Gotango is almost finished sir, engine and thrusters tests were scheduled for today so it should be finished before we get back." I said. "As for 627, she's been in the brig far more than she's been out and to be frank, she gets on my nerves." I added bluntly.

"I see. So I guess it was your call not to let her name slip out? Though she does seem to have an air of irresponsibility about her." He noted swirling his hand over head.

"She's...a fine pilot, among other things, but she's too undisciplined. Too willing to skirt rules and side step command whenever it suits her. She wrecked the simulator of the first prototype for our vessel, 'pushin' it to the extreme,' she said, but then in two months she wrecked 3 more vehicles on and off base and she didn't even give an excuse. Then she punched some other officers in a bar fight, and when she was confronted for her actions, gave our base commander a black eye. Then just took her time in the brig like a vaca." I finished.

"She sounds spirited, but like you said, undisciplined. She would learn a thing or two onboard my ship. I wouldn't let her get away with such behavior." He scoffed.

"Believe me sir, she's been disciplined, demoted, worked back up to her current rank, disciplined again, jailed, and even threatened to be left behind when all of humanity leave this world. Nothing seems to phase her." I said. "She obviously has talent and skills we need for this journey, but she doesn't seem to grasp that the world is ending and we need to work together to survive."

Arriving at the main building and going inside, the general invited me to join him for dinner to discuss the goo. He cracked a smile as some well-done T-bone steaks, seasoned steak fries, corn, baked beans, and cold beers were served.

"Being this should be the last dinner at this base, I figured some appropriate meal choices be served tonight. My soldiers had a choice of pizza, burgers or steaks, it was near unanimous all around. So I ordered the finest we had left in stock to be cooked up for all tonight," he said looking down, "Seems I was lucky enough to get a good pick."

"Well I thank you sir, I haven't had a piece of prime beef in months. Actually, even if I did, I normally get a thick sirloin cut and baked potato." I added.

He laughed heartily. "Hahahaha! Well son, I never would have guessed you were the type. But I'm glad to hear not everyone has a stick up their ass in this day and age. I mean it's only the end of the world." He chuckled.

Eating a couple bites while his laughter died down. Then he cut a hearty piece and tore it apart with his teeth.

"Sir, if I may say, that's not the sort of talk one would expect from a battle hardened individual of your age." I noted while forking a few fries.

He swallowed. "Ah! I've seen too much to just be an old grouch in what may be my final years." He leaned over and whispered with a snarky grin. "Especially since I already was a pain in my soldiers asses for my entire career."

I coughed a bit, trying not to choke from laughing.

We finished eating afterwards with an air of glad tidings in the room. We moved over to his couch and lounge chair, finishing the beers, then he offered me a snort of whiskey from an old jug, I respectfully declined. I don't do much more than a beer or two on any given day.

He offered a cigar as well, "Real Cuban."

"Don't smoke sir." I declined.

"Well son, how'd you get to be so high in the ranks without taking some risks?" He questioned.

I told him about what few campaigns he is privy to, the dangers of three lost me comrades, and how I'd taken a few shots to make sure I never lost any more. My leadership skills impressed and soon I was given rank and sooner than some expected, I was 5th in line to take charge of my last post. When the goo landed and Asia was being taken, our base was emptied and we were moved to the U.S. west coast. Two of our command structure were reassigned to other groups that needed their expertise, and that left me, and the bases original commander. Just as I finished my little tale, an alarm started to wind up outside.

The general's communicator sounds off and he answered it. For security purposes, it is not a typical desk holo or speaker that is loud enough for all to hear. "What's goin…," he paused. "Alright tests are over, get that component connected and fire up the engines now! I'm on my way, and have the Harbinger refueled!" He deactivated it. "The goo somehow accelerated, it will be here in 3 hours or less."

"Well, so much for relaxing." I said as I stood. "Sir, will you have the MPs release my pilot? Apparently we need to get our bird ready to fly." I stated.

"She'll be out there." He said as I left his office.

I made my way to the front of the building, grabbing a soldier and the copilot, we jumped into a Jeep and beelined for our transport. I told the driver to go and wait for my female pilot, and to bring her here asap, he nodded and drove off. I began checking gauges and instrument panels for any abnormalities. The copilot started his normal checklist, and was about halfway through when she stepped up into the cockpit.

"So, did anyone else have the steak?" She asked.

"Begin preflight and whatnot 627, we don't have time for small talk. As far as I can tell, instruments are good, I'm going to find the General and see if there's anything else we can do before we takeoff." I said. "Hey." I turned and grabbed my own duel equipment. "Get set for a fight, we may need to help fight this off if they can't get off the ground fast enough." I said.

"Yay, I get to play with my assigned piece of garbage deck." She said rolling her eyes. "Ya'know, my real deck is way more…" she started to explain.

"Just get ready 627! Get serious about something for once in your career!" I growled, then left the aircraft.

She made faces behind my retreating back I'm sure. I headed for the next building over, it was were the equipment was taken when we landed. Getting inside, I found some stairs and headed up to where the control center normally is. I found it, and inside was only three guys furiously going over lines of code and double checking systems for the Baddeck.

"Where's the Gen.." the building rocked suddenly cutting me off. "What was that!?"

"I don't know sir. All other personnel are either making last minute adjustments to the ship or are gathering the last of the supplies from the rest of the base sir. The General may be inside the Baddeck." He said.

I turned and headed back down the stairs and was almost knocked off my feet again as the building lurched sideways by an unknown force. I made my way outside first, trying to see just what was happening. It wasn't pretty, the goo had somehow accelerated again and was already just outside the base. In the distance, I heard the familiar sound of the Harbingers engines starting up. Going back inside, I made my way down the flight of stairs to get my first glimpse of the Baddeck, she was huge, nearly 1/3 bigger than the Gotango. I saw the top hatch and a side bay door open, I made my way to the bay door. Inside, a soldier was checking to make sure some crates were secured.

"Can I help you sir?" He asked.

"Where's the general? I need to make one final check with him before we depart." I stated.

"He's in his office sir. He said he needed to make a phone call before getting onboard." He said.

I thanked him and headed back out.


	4. The Baddack

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 3: Northface Base pt2: The Baddeck

/ word count: 2338

/ (Author's note: Card use is scripted however summoning requirements and card effect rules are still applied.)

Northface Base:

Getting to the surface again, the ground shook violently and I was tossed to the ground. Looking in the direction of the bases borders, the goo was still slowly approaching our location. I saw a Jeep close by and used it to speed towards the main building the general was reportedly to be at. I looked towards the Harbinger and saw 627 raising her arms in a questioning motion through the cockpit windows as to just what the hell I was doing. I accelerated and would be at the building in 30 seconds. Throwing the Jeep into park, and jumping from the vehicle, I slammed into the front doors in a dead run. I raced down the hall until I reached the commander's office, the door was wide open and it was empty, great.

"GENERAL!!"

I raced down the halls and looked in every room that was open and unlocked, he never replied. Time was running out and I was about to turn a corner when I heard something behind me.

"LIEUTENANT COMMANDER FREEMAN! We have ta' go, now!"

I turned and saw 627 running after me.

"What are you doing here!?" I asked furiously.

"There's no time! The goo is only a hundred yards from the buildin', we can't wait any longer!" She said.

"But the general?"

"It's too late. We can't look for him anymore! Now let's go!" As she grabbed my arm and literally dragged me towards the entrance.

I caved and followed her, shrugging her off my arm. We ran and left the building in a rush, and nearly ran straight into a mass of goo that was covering the Jeep.

"What the…!? It shouldn't be here already!" She exclaimed.

"Well we aren't heading out this way! Let's find a side door or the roof!" I said.

Turning and running back inside, we looked for the other doors to the buildings exterior. Making a corner just ahead of the goo, which was somehow right on our heels and it almost seemed to be picking up speed.

"What the hell!? How's it getting faster!?" I queried as I had to jump a couple feet forward to stay ahead of the goo.

"Right turn!" She shouted pointing to a door.

We ran with all we had and literally leapt at the doors, bursting through. Clearing the threshold just as a lob of goo dropped from the roof to the ground.

"Move. Move. Move!" I urged.

We ran down the sidewalk away from the buildings already covered and out towards the awaiting Harbinger. I waved to the copilot to begin moving the craft to get it further from the goo. We made it to the tail end of the transport and ran alongside it, as I took a sidelong glance at the building housing the Baddeck. It was still shut up and I didn't see the vessel in the air yet.

"Where's the Baddeck? Isn't she airborne yet?" I yelled over the sound of the engine.

"I don't know! I was lookin' for ye'!" 627 yelled back.

"Get inside and get this rig in the air!" I said then she glanced over her shoulder at me. "That's an order Lieutenant! I'm going for the Baddeck! We need that ship in the air or we will lose precious resources! Now go!" I ordered.

Baddeck:

I turned and headed for the building that was just another 100yds from the transport as it moved by. I burst through the doors and ran down the stairs heading for the Baddeck directly. Breathing heavily when I got down there, I saw the side bay was still open and there was no sign of the crewman. I grabbed a mic and threw switches to the upper control deck. Static was my reply, I then ran into the Baddeck open bay and hit the close apparatus. Going through a few hatches and making my way to the bridge to see what the hold up was. Reaching the final hatch, and it was shut, locked from the other side.

I reached for a mic and called out to the bridge. "Con? Con!? Is anyone in there!?" I called.

"Ka'an? What are you doing here!?" The generals voice questioned over the speaker.

"General? Why isn't the hanger open and the Baddeck in the air!?" I asked.

"The Baddeck isn't taking off." He stated.

"What!? But we need this ship in the air now! The fleet won't be complete without it!" I explained.

"It doesn't matter. This ship isn't leaving this base, and neither am I."

The com went dead, and I called the bridge again and again with no response.

"Shit!" I exclaimed.

I ran for another hatch, I needed to find a way to get this vessel into the air before the goo…, the vessel shifted underfoot and I was thrown into the bulkhead. I nearly lost consciousness, my head ringing, the side hurt like a son of a bitch. Then I remembered something, the top hatch, if it is still open, I might be able to…, letting the thought drift a moment. What to do about the general if I make it inside, if he's not willing to listen, or relinquish control, I'll have to.., leaving that thought unfinished. I didn't want to think about it. Reaching the top of the ship, I looked for the wayward hatch that was left opened earlier. Noticing it, I got on top of the ship and began running to the hatch. Then between myself and it a piece of the buildings ceiling fell onto the Baddecks top deck. Looking up, I saw cracks beginning to form in the ceiling and then I noticed the windows against the upper walls, all of them were black.

"Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it." I told myself.

I got to the hatch and leapt inside, sliding down the rungs as quickly as possible. The general was sitting with his back to the middle of the room. He appeared to not hear me enter the bridge, the debris falling onto the top might have covered my decent.

"General!" I shouted.

He sighed. "So you aren't going to leave it be, are you son?"

"I can't just leave anymore. The goo has already surrounded the building outside, and this ship's too valuable to just let it die unused!" I countered.

Looking around, I noticed that the Bridge was completely empty except for the two of us.

"Where is the rest of the crew? Where are your men!?" I growled.

"They did their jobs well, but they do not need to see this. To see their General fail them. Fail them for such foolish reasons and sentiment of an old man." He deflated.

"I won't let this ship die here General, and I won't let you stop me! I don't know why you suddenly have just tossed away your career, but this will not stand!" I cemented my resolve. "Now either get outta my way or I'll be forced to remove you from your command!"

"You won't have to worry about me." He said calmly, then raised his hand with a pistol in it to his own head.

"NO!" I was..too late.

He slumped in his chair and the gun clattered to the floor. Gritting my teeth, I held back a scream of frustration, then I noticed a screen blinking. I moved forward, pulling my jacket off and placing over the generals head. I turned and touched the screen, and some outdoor cams fed back static snow filled screens. So I rotated through the system and watched for any potential functional feeds. Then one finally cleared enough to see that the entire base was covered and the goo was headed south fast, then the camera feed went dead.

"Urgh, where's the engine indicator?

I looked away from the screens and began furiously reading switch commands. "There!" As I hit a switch to bring the engines online.

The rumble of the ship began to come to life, and the ship lifted a few feet from its moorings.

"Oh crap the clamps are still attached!" I said as I looked for the release switch.

Finding and hitting it, the ship lightly jerked as the ship rose more. Now for the hanger doo…, oh. I can't open it, or the goo will fall onto the ship and then the ship cannot be taken anywhere else. Duel energy! I need to generate enough to blast the roof off this place in one go, otherwise it's game over. A screech was heard just before I moved to head back to the top deck. I turned and looked towards the radio as a single light flickered on and off. I picked it up, and it cracked with static when I brought it to my ear.

"Lieutenant Commander!? Ka'an!? Can ye' hear me!?" That southern bells voice was near heaven sent.

"Lieutenant? Are you receiving me?" I asked.

"Sir! What's goin' on down there!? Where's the general!? Is the Baddeck…!?"

"Listen up!" I interrupted. "I'm bringing the Baddeck up right now, but we need to clear the goo off the roof and from an area big enough to allow the ship to lift off, free and clear. So I need you to fly the Harbinger in a wide arc and blast this area with as much duel energy as you can muster, then I'll handle the rest!"

"But sir, this deck is…"

"Now!" I ordered.

I tossed the headset aside and ran for the ladder to get to the top deck. I activate my equipment and set the deck in place. A lite blue holo field zone for the cards to be placed apon appears in front of me.

"Alright, I draw!"

Harbinger:

"Crap! That idiot's goin' to get himself killed before he can even leave me behind!" 627 remarked.

"Wait? What?" The co-pilot questioned.

"Nothin'. Take control, and put this craft on an oval over the base! I'm gonna rain some pain on this stuff!" She ordered.

"Aye ma'am!" As he gripped the stick and began to turn into the maneuver.

627 unbuckled and shot out of her chair, jumping down the steps from the cockpit. She turned and opened the side door facing the goo below. She set the premade deck into her equipment and activating the device. A lite orange holo field generated for her, at least she could use her own personal duel disk and not one of the preset standard grey and white of normal recruits.

"This deck better have somethin' I can use! I draw." Looking over the cards in her hand, she grimaced. "Oh great, there's only one card. It better do somethin' otherwise the Lieutenant Commander is a dead man!"

She turned to the open side door and slammed the card down onto the holo field.

"I summon Gyaku-Gire Panda in attack mode!" The disk glowed and then a beam shot out and a panda image appeared doing karate kicks and flips before nose diving towards the goo below. She saw something happening, it began to change in size, growing larger. The attack indicator on her device began changing rapidly.

'800, 2300, 3800, 5300, 7800, 9300'

"It's, it's not possible! How can that pipsqueak get so big!?" Looking at her device.

'10300, 12800, 14300, 15300, 20800'

"What!? I.., but there's.., oh ferget it. Gyaku-Gire Panda attack!" She shouted.

The Panda spun in place and then drop kicked straight down on top of the goo on the roof of the hanger. Just as the kick slammed down on the roof, the goo was thrown back and cleared nearly all the roof, then light shown from below, cracks began shining through the roofs surface.

A little earlier, "now to bust out of here!" I summon Goblindbergh in attack mode!"

An old WWI prop plane swoops down from a virtual sky.

"Now it's ability grants me one level four or lower monster from my hand, now I summon Vylon Prism in attack mode!"

A small squadron of prop planes carried in a big blue crate beneath them. A crystalline robot appeared from inside the box.

"And since I have normal summoned a monster, I can special summon my Kagetokage from my hand!"

A shadowy lizard creature slithered from the shadow beneath the Goblindbergh.

"Now to enter my battle phase! Then I can activate Arrivalrivals, now I can normal summon immediately! I tribute all three of my monsters to summon my, Beast King Barbados, arise!"

The three monsters on my field shimmered and then disappeared into a combined swirl of energy from below, then an explosion of light and power into the air as a large red spear and massive lion rose up.

"Since Vylon went to the GY, I can pay 500LP and equip it to Barbaros for another 1000atk, but a few more attack points can't hurt. I can special summon my Juragedo during the battle phase in attack mode!"

A strange reptilian like creature warped into existence.

"Then I'll use it's abilities to grant myself an extra 1000LP and also tribute it to give Barbaros an additional 1000atk!"

Barbaros grew to nearly double in size, and brought his weapon to bare.

"Now Barbaros can blast the roof right off this place! Barbaros attack! Tornado Bringer!"

Outside, all 627 saw was a bright flash just as her Panda struck the roof. The goo gave an obvious caving in look, and spreading away from the point of impact. Then the roof began to bulge outwards, cracks of light and power coming from below. The goo was suddenly thrown in all directions, her panda evaporating away from the sheer power output.

"What in the name of…!?"

(Author's note: For anyone unfamiliar with Gyaku-Gire Panda, it gains 500 attack for each monster your opponent controls. The goo, as it appears and moves like a single entity, it is in fact millions of different things all working as one. That is why its power grew and didn't seem to stop.)


	5. Silent Invasion

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 4: Silent Invasion

/ word count: 2083

The Baddeck was cruising at 3500ft, and headed south by southwest over the Rockies, the Harbinger was half a mile ahead at 3900 feet. The General, General Fornsburge, for unknown reasons, took his own life, but for other unknown reasons, didn't kill any of his men, instead locking them in a lower hold at gunpoint. After I had gotten the Baddeck airborne, and clear of the goo, the intercoms statics to life with voices calling out for help. It took a little time to discover where they were, I was finally able to unlock the door and allow the crew to get back to their stations and move the ship further from the goo on the surface. The medic onboard checked the Generals body, then had the body moved to the infirmary. Crewmen cleaned up the mess, then held a short ceremony for the General in the ships galley.

Several hours later, the communications officer called over to the bridge, "Con, comms, the Harbinger is on the comm, they want to know what we're going to tell the Coronado Base commander when we arrive, ...about the general." She reported.

"Thank you Ensign. Tell them I'll handle it when we touch down."

"Aye sir." She acknowledged.

"Navigation, what's our ETA to Coronado?" I asked.

"We're half an hour out from their radar coverage sir, but we should have already been in contact with them before now." He answered.

"Very well. Comms, Con, have you been able to tell Coronado of our approach?" I asked.

"Con, Comms, negative sir. I've tried all frequencies, they aren't picking up. It's almost as if they're not even out there." She reported.

"Strange. Unless a call went out for radio silence, why didn't we hear about it?" I queried.

"Not sure sir, it may have happened or been something the general did before he... ya'know. I'll... I'll keep trying sir." She stuttered.

"Very well Ensign. Lieutenant Michaels, you have the Con. Head straight for Coronado. I need to hit the head."

"Aye sir." Michaels said as he stepped up.

We flew over the outer marker of the bases radar coverage area, and we still weren't getting any response on any frequency.

"Harbinger, have you been able to get in contact with Coronado Base?" I asked.

"Negative Baddeck, all we can get is a line-o'-sight short range witcha'." 627 replied.

"Copy that, keep trying and report anything you hear."

"Aye sir." She said, a slight hint of worry beginning to creep into her voice.

"Comms, Con, have you been able to get ahold of any other signal, I don't care how insignificant." I queried.

"Nothing yet sir. All I've heard was the beeping of the outer marker as we passed over it." She replied.

"Are we even broadcasting a signal?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes sir, but there just isn't anyone listening. We're trying to reach DC or the UN forces now." She reported.

"Alright, let me know if you get something." I said.

"Aye sir." She acknowledged.

Switching on the ship wide intercoms, "All hands, this is acting Captain Freeman, for the next half hour I want complete and utter silence." There were confirmations from all decks, I looked straight ahead trying to leave any emotions off my face, my fists were a different matter. "I don't like this." I muttered.

For the next 15 minutes, the entire crew was dead silent. Not trying to make any unwanted noise or interfere with the comms officer in case they heard even the faintest whisper.

Using hand motions, I ordered the Baddeck to descend quietly, then I motioned so the comms officer could let the Harbinger know to stay circling overhead until we called for them. They nodded a confirmation as we made our descent. There was a cloud layer between us and any visuals on the ground. When we broke through the clouds, still 1000ft from the ground, we did not expect the sight we saw, different sections of the base were in flames.

"What the hell!? Navigator! Get us as close to the ground as we can safely go!! Ahead, 3 quarter speed!!" I ordered.

"Aye sir!" He acknowledged, then ordered the ship forward and down to gain speed and dropped us to the deck quickly.

I turned to the XO, "Red Alert!"

An alarm blared throughout the ship.

Over the intercoms, Michaels announced, "ALL HANDS, BATTLE STATIONS!"

Turning to weapons control, I ordered. "Arm all guns and missiles! Charge the mazer banks!"

Screens lit up, targeting reticles aligned, the ship gave a slight shudder to the new power output.

"Tell the Harbinger to remain out of sight until called. We may need emergency transport for ground personnel!" I said to the comms officer.

The crew in a tight, albeit an uncoordinated event, got the ship battle ready in 90 seconds. The Baddecks armaments we're all brought to bare and aimed towards the ground. The Baddeck lowered to about 300ft and we moved across the remaining distance at speed.

"Sir! There's a firefight happening at that building!" An Ensign announced pointing out a hanger on the main view screen.

"That's the hanger that the Gotango is being built and tested! Angle the ship to best help our weapons to support whoever's inside that building!" Once the ship had it's weapons lined up, "Controlled bursts, don't kill any of them, just push them away from the hanger for now, don't let your shots go wild! All guns, FIRE!" I ordered.

Below, the unknown troops outside the hanger heard the sounds of engines from overhead. Turning, they saw the Baddeck turning its side towards them and its weapons bearing down.

"Hovercraft! Move! Move! Move!" One of the intruders yelled to his compatriots.

They all began to move just as the first discharge of rounds struck the ground next to them, forcing them away from the hangers main doors. The Baddeck kept striking the ground just behind their feet pushing them further back.

"Where'd that thing come from!? I thought we set up a jammer for this entire area!" Another asked.

"I don't know!" He looked towards the hanger, now being guarded by that hovercraft. "If we don't get that ship in the ground under the Collectives control, we won't be able to take control of the rest of the fleet!" The leader said.

"We may have to fall back and make a new plan to come back and get it later!" Someone suggested.

"No! We won't get another chance! It's now or never!" The leader stated.

"So what do we supposed to do? There's no way to get past that hovercraft with our small arms fire. We'd need that other ship ourselves to have a chance of escaping."

"Well if we can't shoot our way in, or possibly even shoot our way out of here, does anyone have any other ideas?"

A young woman looked at the duel disk she was carrying and then turned to the others.

"How about we wager something for safe passage out of here?" She showed her disk to the others.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! How do we wager a duel for our freedom? They're bound to have everyone here with a deck and we have killed a few of they're comrades. What makes you think we would be allowed to leave even if we could win a duel?"

"Honor among duelists?" She questioned. "I'll do it." She volunteered.

"Oh no! You're not even supposed to be here as it is! I'll do it. I was named squad leader for this mission, I'll be the one to get us out of here. As for the rest of you, find a way to sneak out while I'm keeping them busy with my duel!"

Grabbing a white curtain from a window where there was nobody looking in, the leader attached it to a broomstick. Then went to a doorway not far from where anyone outside could see, and began waving it furiously. He slowly moved forward and waved it again, holding it up high for all to see.

Then a loud speaker can be heard, a voice then said, "this is Captain Ka'an Freeman of the Baddeck. You and your compatriots, step out of the building with your hands up now!" He heard the voice say.

"I have a proposition. A duel, and if I win, we leave with no further shots fired." He offered.

"Are you really going to ask that!? You attacked this base, killed an untold amount of soldiers, and just when you are losing, you want to make a deal!?" The voice questioned.

"Well, we're sort of stuck in this situation. We don't want to die, so I thought I could reach an agreement with you." He said with a sheepish grin.

A moment of silence followed, then the voice aid, "stay where you are. Twitch a finger, lift an eyebrow, or even breath too quickly and it will be your last mistake!" The voice warned. "All ground forces, hold your fire. I'm coming down!" It finished.

A few moments later, the ship lowered to just about 20ft above the ground. A small hatch opened at the bottom of the ship and a ladder slid down to klank onto the ground.

Inside the Baddeck moments before, "XO, lower the ship to let me get to the ground via the bottom ladder, then get to 100ft and keep a lookout. Wherever his friends are, I don't want to be shot before I can have a word with that man." I ordered.

"Sir, I have a bad feeling about this. Why would he suggest a duel now? They were fine with blowing up the base before we got here.." He questioned.

"That's why they're suggesting this." I interrupted. "They weren't expecting a ship to suddenly show up and rain down fire from above. They're out matched, out maneuvered, and out gunned, so they want a compromise, fine. We need to make sure we send a clear message to whoever's so foolish enough to try and attack our bases and friends." I explained. "You have the Con. No matter what, don't let anyone take the Gotango unless it's friendlies. And call back the Harbinger, tell them to fly low and scout the area around the base for anything unusual." I said.

"Aye sir." He affirmed.

Heading down to the bottom of the ship, a soldier was waiting at the ladder for me. She tried to speak a protest, but I silenced her with a raised hand. Then I hit the hatch release and a moment later, the ladder dropped to the ground.

"Good luck sir." She said.

I didn't answer. It's not often I get to showcase any sort of dueling skills, and as an officer, I have to tend to my men before I can indulge in personal pleasures. I grabbed the ladder and slide down the rungs in a quick motion with my hands and feet on the sides. On the ground, I looked at the intruder dead in the eye, and from nearly 50yrds away, that was a feet. As I stepped away from the ship, the ladder was raised and the ship rose into the air. I walked over to the man whose hands were slightly raised in the air.

"Alright then, I'm here. What exactly do you want to do about this situation?" I asked.

"Well, I have my duel disk, and you have yours. We duel, and if I win, we leave without another word." He suggested.

"And if you lose?" I countered.

"Ugh.., I, we…" He stammered.

Sighing I shook my head. "Let me guess, they're already trying to escape? Not that it will do much good." Raising a hand and circling it over my head.

Soldiers suddenly moved and began moving away from this certain situation. Their weapons raised and they began looking for the rest of the intruders. The man in front of me was about to interject what was happening, when I took a step closer, his eyes looked back to me.

"Don't think you get to stop any of this." I said. "As for you and me, we have a duel to get started. So I suggest you get focused on that and not what these soldiers might do to your friends. Oh, and if you think you can back out now, you definitely don't know who you asked to be your opponent." I raise my arm and activated my duel equipment.

"DUEL!"


	6. Coronado Attack

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 4.1: Coronado attacked

/ word count: 1878

Since the start of the invasion, naval bases were moved inland for better protection. All sea going vessels, save for a few luxury cruisers and liners left for the elderly and those refusing to leave the planet, were dismantled in a speed and fashion unbefitting their honor and memories in service. But time was of the essence, and metal could not be made or shaped fast enough for the ships that needed to be built. So warships, commercial, and civilian boats alike, were gutted for their steel hull, girders, wiring, engines and other resources. Nothing was left of a ship as she was unceremoniously, yet carefully, ripped apart. The ships being built, needed these resources and metal for their own, if the human race was to survive. Only problem was, it took nearly two full ships worth of resources to make just one of the hovercrafts that the Earth needed. Steel Mills and construction crews worked 24/7 shifts just to make enough steel, shape them and build ships. It was a sight to see, what should have taken months to accomplish, took just a few weeks. The very computer driven engines were a whole other matter, computer and tech companies worked just as hard along scientists and engineers to construct and perfect the "Anti-Grav" engine and "Impulse" emitters to allow ship flight in zero gravity conditions. New space suits, smaller, lighter, but no less sturdy, were also designed. Since movement in space cannot be limited, the suits needed to be as close to human size as possible. First drafts were merely a wetsuit with an old divers helmet on it, total mobility and complete head coverage. The trick was connecting them so there wasn't any air loss from the tanks. Then the backpack was redesigned to be smaller but just as efficient at air scrubbing. Boots with electronic magnetic soles were implemented. Then for the battery usage, a component was attachable to the backpack so that it can be removed if needed, and since it was going to be used in space, weight wouldn't be an issue. The new suits now had helmets that would turn with the users head. Could function in multiple settings, in space, on the ground, and in the water. Materials were fairly thin, and easily adjustable for different body types.

Brethren Forces:

A group of two dozen individuals moved quickly and silently across the fields and open terran, staying low. Last night, there was a report of the goo about to reach Canada, and that the last base there was no longer a viable option. So instructions were sent and events set in motion for that bases destruction. Instead of the ship that was being built there, a different ship was selected as the new target of the Collective. Reaching the 200yrd range of the base, the group stopped and looked through binoculars at their destination.

"Looks like their personnel are packing up and headed for the transports." One of the infiltrators said.

"The call went out this morning for all their troops except the ones needed to complete the ship and to crew it, were ordered out. So we wait until most of those transports leave then the base will be mostly deserted, then we sweep in and catch them unawares." The leader said.

"How long will that take?" A young female asked.

"You just sit there and observe. You're not even supposed to be here." Another said.

She scowled, but stayed quiet. One of the men pulled a bag, then started assembling what looked like a gun.

"Hey! What's he gonna need that for!?" She asked, concern on her face.

"Don't worry, it's just a tranquilizer. One hit, and they won't cause us any trouble." The man said with a straight face.

The young female looked at him questionably, but took him at his word. Then she grabbed a pair of binoculars and watched the base slowly empty.

A few hours later, the leader of the group broke out the no camp fire survival packs. Told everyone to nestle in for the night because the base should be mostly empty by dawn. So they all used their MREs to eat then wrapped in the special blankets to rest till morning. The young female had been camping with her dad a few times, and he had taught her to use this gear and MREs, though she still preferred a tent and campfire. Of course, that was before he became such an important man to the rest of the world and they missed their camping trip together for the last four years. She had tried taking a couple friends on some short trips, but they refused to sleep outside, under the stars and clear skies. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep a little. The sniper quietly got the leaders attention and moved over to him to talk.

"Man! Why'd you bring the senators daughter!? She's not ready for this yet!" The sniper told the leader in a whisper.

"Don't blame me. She was going to go up the chain of command and then we would have been forced to take her. So I just told her to be a lookout and not to engage anyone if she can help it. Besides, she's been through our boot and has had some extensive hand to hand training, not to mention her dueling is well above any of us here. She may become useful in the end." The leader explained.

"Don't tell me you're planning to make her duel someone!?" He asked.

"Heck no. But if we ever get into a pinch, daddy won't be far behind with reinforcements. She's his precious child and that guarantees us an extraction." The leader grinned.

The sniper started to eye her through her blanket. "Hey, you know she's not half bad looking either."

"Don't even think about it!" The leader threatened. "If she has even so much as a hair out of place before we get back to base, I'll string you up just like that black boy that tried to join our outfit!" The leader explained, loud and clear.

The sniper, and a few close enough to hear them all got the picture.

"Okay, I get it. We'll look after her and keep her safe." The sniper declared.

"You'd better!" The leader looked around at the men closest to him.

The next morning, the group watched from afar and waited until only one transport was on the ground. Then the leader signaled for the device to be set up and gotten ready.

"Wait until there off the ground and on their way. That way they won't think about turning back if they're not getting a distress signal." The leader said.

Heads nodded in agreement and the device was assembled and set for max range. When the last transport took off, they listened in on the chatter via the jammer, and when the final word was spoken and the transport was headed south, the leader gave the signal and the entire area went completely radio silent. Nothing that wasn't strong enough or in line of sight with its intended receiver, could not get through. The group moved closer to the base gate and then the young female was told to lookout and call out any targets.

"Okay. So far the closest person is at the gate. Oh. He's cute too." She noted.

The sniper that was eyeing her last night, aimed the rifle. He didn't like to hear how someone else was better looking than him. So he leveled the gun at the soldier, and waited until he was told to fire. He knew better than to get the leader mad at him. He looked to the leader for the final signal. A Jeep drove by the gate, the soldier saluted then went back to his post after the Jeep left.

"Was that the base commander?" Someone asked.

"Sure was. He's a priority target. We get him, were guaranteed the keys to that hovercraft!" The leader noted. He looked to the sniper and gave the signal.

The sniper grinned, evil in his eyes, then he shot. The young female gasped suddenly as the soldier fell to the ground.

"What!? What was that!? He just fell down!" She almost shouted.

"Go! Go! Go!" The leader ordered.

The group got up and ran for the now defenseless gate, and right past the now dead soldier. The young female got close enough to see the pool of blood around the soldiers head.

"I thought you said those were tranqs!?" She asked

"They are." The sniper answered. "Permanent tranqs, now let's go!" He said pushing her onto the base.

Her eyes went wide with horror as the realization dawned on her. She was now part of a deadly game and she didn't want to be here anymore, but how does she get out of it. This guy wouldn't leave her alone or let her go. She was dragged along and told to keep watch as no less than three men surrounded her. She couldn't break free without causing a scene, and she couldn't stand up because the bullets were hitting way too close for her to make a run for it. She was stuck. The group pushed through the base, a few explosions rocked the area, and she screamed at the closest ones. Then more screams came and they weren't from her, or the group she was with. The more they moved, the more bodies she saw. On had a single hole in his chest, another was a fairly young female soldier, she was missing part of her face. She leaned down to look at the name tag, Jenkins, but she was pulled away before she could close the girls eyes. She was rattled, completely in shock of the situation.

"Come on! They're pulling back to the hangers! One of them has to have the craft!" The sniper said while looking down his scope.

He fired some rounds off and there was screaming as a response.

"Haha! Got my seventh!" He was so gleeful about it.

She just couldn't think of a way out, there was nothing she could do! She turned to look away and saw another body. She almost screamed again, turned and saw another, and another. The world began to swing a bit, then she was shoved and heard the order to pull back.

"Hovercraft!!" Someone shouted out loud.

She peeked over her shoulder, a new craft was descending down from the clouds and they were laying down fire at their heels. She was pushed until they were inside a building, and the bullets stopped raining down.

"Where'd that thing come from!? I thought we set up a signal jammer for this entire area!"

She was still in shock and didn't hear the rest of the words coming out of their mouths. She looked at the duel disk she was carrying and then turned to the others.

"How about we wager something for safe passage out of here?" She showed her disk to the others.

"And what makes you think we would be allowed to leave even if we could win a duel?" The sniper asked.

"Honor among duelists?" She questioned. "I'll do it." She volunteered.


	7. Invader Duel

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 5: Invader Duel!!

/ word count: 2115

/ (Author's note: All duel actions are random. Multiple choice decisions made by coin toss.)

Coronado Base: Ka'an vs Intruder

"For invading this base, I think I'll start us off! I draw!" I began.

He stood ready, though I noticed a faint look of worry crossed his face. I looked at my hand and I decided to feel out his strategy first.

"First I'll activate Pot of Duality, and have a look at the top three cards of my deck. Hm, interesting, I think I'll keep this card, then reshuffle the rest back into my deck."

He was looking over his cards but he kept peeking to the side for some reason.

"Now I summon my Mathematician in attack mode!"

A light shone from the ground, and a short dwarf like creature with a long white beard, walking staff, a graduation cap and gown formed up from the light.

"Now my monster grants me the ability to add one monster from my deck to my graveyard, just so long as it is a level 4 or lower."

Picking up my deck, I fanned it out to see them all. Again, I peeked up to see him looking sidelong at something, or someone. I lifted a card from my deck and revealed it.

"I'm sending my Pandora's Jewelry Box to the graveyard. Now I'll set two cards facedown and end my turn." I said.

He almost didn't seem to notice me ending my turn, when he suddenly cleared his throat and drew a card.

"I draw!" He started.

Looking over his hand, he grinned.

"I activate Monster Reborn to special summon your Pandora's Jewelry Box from the graveyard, then I'll sacrifice it for my Fiend Megacyber in attack mode!"

"Tch." I huffed.

"Now you can't get your pendulum monster back and use it's effect for drawing extra cards. You thought I wasn't paying attention, didn't you?" He said smugly.

"Well your attention was being divided, but don't think this minor setback will really affect the outcome of this duel." I shot back.

He frowned, "now battle! Fiend Megacyber, attack his Mathematician with Cyber Swipe!" His fiend flew forward and slammed a fist down onto my Mathematician, blowing him up with a cloud of smoke left behind.

"Grr!" I growled as 700 of my life points disappeared with my monster. 7300lp "Don't think we're done! When my monster is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to draw one new card." I said as I drew a card.

"Now I set three cards facedown and end my turn!" He ended. "Let's see you come back from that."

Losing my Pandora does hurt my intended strategy, but thankfully I already have the cards to make him regret taking my monster.

"During your end phase, I activate my facedown trap card, Heavy Storm Duster! Now I can destroy two of your backrow cards, and those two you just played look like prime targets!" I said as a virtual set of twin tornados swirled into existence and destroyed his two cards.

"Grr!" He gritted his teeth.

"Now I draw! Time for some payback. I activate the Monarchs Stormforth, now I can use one of your monsters as tribute for one of mine!" I stated while holding a card over head, a faint golden light appearing through the clouds above.

"What!?" He questioned.

"I tribute your Fiend Megacyber to summon my Prime Material Dragon in attack mode!"

His monster shattered into a million bits of light which floated high into the air, disappearing into the clouds. The light grew brighter as a beam suddenly shot down and impacted the ground in front of me. It took a moment as the light shrank and then burst outwards with a snap and roar as a dragon that looks like it was made almost entirely out of gold with six wings flared into existence.

"My dragon is none too happy about losing its comrades the way you just came in here and blasted this place apart and he wants to repay you in kind! Now battle! Prime Material Dragon attack him directly! Prime stream burst!!"

The dragon reared its head back, flaring its wings as it filtered light from its wing tips to its mouth, it's body glowing from the build up. The power filled it's maw until all the light was absorbed, then it lowered its head and opened its mouth at the intruder, hurling a stream of pure light straight at the man.

"Aaaahh!" He screamed as he took the full force of the blow from the attack, knocking him off his feet and flinging him backwards several feet, skidding across the ground. His life point counter dropping 2400 points. 5600lp

"Now I'll set one card facedown and end my turn." I announced as he was struggling to his feet.

He was breathing a little heavily, but the duel was still young, I don't think it'll be much longer for him to be done for. He stood and walked back to his position, then he lifted his arm and drew.

"I draw! Now I summon my Goblindbergh in attack mode."

An old WWI prop plane flew out the clouds above and circled the field just above us.

"Unfortunately I don't have anything to use his second effect with, but that hardly matters. I activate the spell Back-Up Rider, this grants one monster 1500 extra attack points till the end of the turn, my Goblindbergh should do."

"Hm.." I wondered.

"Battle! Goblindbergh attack his dragon with Diving Bombardment!"

As the little plane flew high into the air, "Not so fast! You activated my trap card Pinpoint Guard! Now I can special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my graveyard in defense mode, my Mathematician will do."

"It doesn't change my plans one bit. Now attack!"

The plane looped over, a few dozen bombs appearing all around it, and made a bombing run on my dragon and my life points. The bombs slammed into the ground all around us, hitting me with 500 points damage. 6800lp

"Argh!" I grunted, then I raised my head and glared at him. "Now I activate my second facedown card, Soul Rope trap! Whenever I lose a monster by battle, I can then pay 1000 life points to special summon one level 4 or lower monster from my deck. I choose my Vylon Prism in attack mode!" I exclaimed.

A portal formed on my field and a string of light shot out of the card and into the hole. My life points dropped the 1000, then a monster made of crystal wearing white armor floated up out of it. 5800lp

"So what, there's nothing left to do this turn. So I end my turn here." He said.

The pain of having lost a few life points from an attack was nothing compared to sacrificing 1000 life points willingly. I staggered a bit, doing this brought our life point to just about even with each others, though I was still in the lead, barely.

"I draw! Now to repay you for destroying my dragon. I tribute both of my monsters to summon my Beast King Barbaros in attack mode!"

My two monsters turned to light and swirled together in a mini storm of swirling lights, growing in size till it stood nearly 15ft high. The light disbursed, leaving a towering four legged lion like beast, a mane covered in armor, with an extra set of limbs welding a spear and shield. It roared, vibrating everything for several yards in all directions.

"So what, you monster can't do much damage to me." He claimed. "I activate my trap card, Battleguard Rage! This raises one of my warrior monsters by 1000 attack points. Now if you attack my Goblindbergh, I'll only lose 600 points.

Grinning. "You shouldn't have done that. Now I get to knock you down even further than before."

"What? How?" He questioned.

"I'll show you. Now my Vylon Prisms effect activates from the graveyard! When it goes to the graveyard, I can give up 500 life points to equip it to a monster on my field, and then it gives my monster an additional 1000 attack points as well." I finished.

The crystal creature reformed on my field then flew forward and combined with Barbaros. 5300lp New white armor formed on Barbaros torso and mane, then his spear was replaced with a crystal broadsword and his shield was increased in size and turned white, making him look like a majestic king of the beasts. With no small amount of worry on his face, the intruder seemed like he wanted to run for his life, but I was just getting started.

"Battle! Beast King Barbaros attack his Goblindbergh with Heavenly Sword Swipe!"

His Goblindbergh turned to fly in a different direction, but Barbaros charged forward and leaped into the air faster than the little plane could get too far. Bringing his sword in a wide side arc, he sliced the plane and the little goblin flying it in half. A small explosion happened and the pieces fell onto the intruder taking 1600 of his life points. 4000lp As the pieces fell, some of them gave him minor cuts and abrasions, and knocked him over onto his back. As he looked up at my monster and me, we both were looking down at him.

"I end my turn."

Coughing a bit and rubbing a small bit of blood from his cheek, he got back onto his feet. He looked around him, not even bothering to try and hide it this time, then he turned back to me.

"I...draw." He said, with a small amount of strain and no small amount of pain etched across his face. "I set one monster facedown and end my turn." He finished and drooped his shoulders.

I looked at him, a small feeling of sorry crossed my mind, then I remembered what they did to my base and closed my eyes. I steeled my resolve and looked at him again. He was like a small animal about to get run over.

"I draw! I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh in attack mode!"

A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, a creature made of blue conductive material manifested itself and two rings to its side.

His head shot up and the inevitable was etched on his face.

"Battle! Now Rai-Oh attack his facedown monster with Lightning Cannon!"

The ambient air sizzled with electricity as the attack was charged, Rai-Oh taking in power from everywhere at once, his core lighting up. Then it was released from the rings and shot out, electrocuting his monster off the field. He was now defenseless, and he was not going to survive an attack from my Barbaros.

"Come on." He taunts. "Come on! Attack me, finish it!"

"This is it. I'm about to make you pay for everything you did here and anything else I can find out from you!" I stated. " Now during the battle phase, I can special summon my Juragedo from my hand."

A strange purple fiend like lizard appeared on my field.

"This gives me a 1000 life point boost, but that's not all, he also can be tributed immediately to give one monster a 1000 attack point boost as well!"

The look on his face was priceless as Barbaros' attack points rose to 5000.

"No...no...you can't. You can't do this!"

"Watch me." I stated flatly. "Barbaros, attack his life points directly with Heavenly Sword Swipe!!"

Barbaros' charged forward, holding the sword across his chest, then as he reached his target, swung the blade in a wide arc across the intruders torso, blasting him off his feet!

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" He tumbled backwards for nearly 50yrds, finally skidding to a stop, unmoving. His life point counter dropping to 0.

I signaled all troops in the area to move forward and spread out, some approached the fallen intruder apprehending him. Then there was an explosion in the distance, a small cloud rising high enough to be seen over buildings. Shortly afterwards, everyone's radios crackled to life at once.

A sing song southern bells voice filled the area. "Lieutenant Commander Freeman, guess what I found? A fancy schmancy device that blocks radio signals." 627 sounded elated. "It's in about a million pieces right now though."

I put a hand on my face and sighed. "Oh!" She added. "And there be about a dozen people here with their hands in the air. Somethin' about not wantin' to get shot with my cannons. So if ye'd be so kind an send me some boys to arrest these here varmints..."

I nearly laughed at here request. Not looking, head down, and eyes shut, I signaled some soldiers to go and assist her.

"That woman…" I mumbled


	8. Interrogation, Secrets and Love? pt1

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 6: Interrogation, Secrets, and Love? Pt1

/ word count: 2215

Coronado Base:

"After the attack, the sabotage, the attempted theft of world government property, and the killing of over 2 dozen soldiers on this base, why in the hell, in all that remains good on this Earth, should I even consider letting you go!?" I shouted, veins popping across my neck.

"Hey! I didn't kill anyone, okay! And yeah, you'll let me go, because if you don't my father will have your job." The little girl said smugly. "He is a seat holder in the world Senate and has the ear of the Director. I could put in a good word for yo.."

"If you think for one damn minute that line will work here, keep dreaming! I'd like to see your daddy come down here and take my job away, especially since nobody knows you're even here!" I interrupted.

"What?" Her smug expression dropped and a look of near panic took hold. "You haven't...reported it yet?" She asked shakily.

"Report it? You'll be lucky if anyone hears anything about this after we have already left the planet! We have a major crisis on our hands and you and your play buddies thought it be a good idea to storm a military base and steal a top secret piece of machinery! You committed a war crime! That in of itself is punishable by death! When the rest of the world is finally, after hundreds of years of tearing each other's throats out, we're FINALLY working together to ensure the survival of our species, and several others on this planet! You decide to pull some sort of stunt that could have gotten you killed!"

She looked away, her eyes darting around while she thought about what was happening. In the next room, behind the two way mirror, the base commander, Rear Admiral Lower Fleetfoot and Lieutenant Commander Carson, formerly prisoner 627, was watching the interrogation unfold. It's a new view she hasn't had the pleasure of enjoying before. Not that she found any enjoyment here in the prison facility. Carson was granted early release when I told the Admiral how she never broke rank or question her orders except to help save my life, and get the Baddeck off the ground. Adding to it she destroyed the signal jammer and caught several prisoners upon her return to base. I recommended she be released early because we were now very low on functioning staff and command structure. Which that now made her third in command of the entire base, Lord help us.

She turned to the commander, "Sir, I know we need information, but is scarin' the daylites outta some little girl necessary?" She asked.

He shook his head. "As the Commander just said, she did something very stupid, and she is the weakest link in that little groups chain. There's no doubt that somebody was watching from afar, seeing as she was in that group, and they will more than likely find a way to get word back to her father soon. But there is no doubt she will crack under pressure first, compared to the rest of them." He turned to the monitors on the wall.

Six out of the whole group was deemed to have known something. Most of them were here in cells, one was on a hospital bed, bandages covering 1/3 of his body. The girl, a wild card, in a situation that she most likely wasn't supposed to be involved in.

"If I had to guess, she just came because she made the same threat she just made to us, but to whoever's in charge of these fellows. Which means she can point them out to us when enough pressure's applied." He turned and looked Carson in the eye.

"We need to know who that is, and we need to know now. Ka'an will grind her down till she cracks completely."

"Sir, if I may. She could possibly respond to my presence bett'r than brute force. Let me go in and talk to her before she shits herself." She suggested.

"Hm, very well. But I want her talking yesterday Lieutenant!" He chimed the intercom on the wall, signaling Ka'an to come out.

"Aye sir." She said.

Outside the base was being put back into some semblance of order again. Certain building materials weren't even being sent to replace what was destroyed, since the base was to be abandoned shortly. All pertinent material went to fixing the main hangers, and making sure the Gotango wasn't too damaged. All structures too damaged or unsafe to go back into, were barricaded and orders left for no personnel to enter them for any reason. A handful of personal items were lost due to the firefight, including all of mine. Just thinking about it gave me a slight headache.

"Ugh, sir, do you think Carson can get anything from that girl?" I asked turning to the Admiral.

"If she wants to stay out of her cozy cell, she better." He gave me a sidelong glance that said he wasn't interested in talking about what former prisoner 627 was doing.

I sighed, then took a deep breath. "You have questions about the general, don't you sir?"

"I want to know what happened! General Fornsburge was a decorated war hero and was a great man! What happened!?" He demanded.

"I can't tell you what his reason we're sir. When I met him and the following hours afterwards, he was exactly as you say he was. He even fed his men T-bone steaks before the end. I think whatever it was that sent him over the edge, happened long before the goo ever got to Canada's borders." I looked ahead. "It is rumored that he talked to someone before he did what he did. Maybe the techs can comb through the Baddecks computers and see if he left some sort of message?"

"Get on it then Commander! I want whatever can be found, found!" He ordered.

"Aye sir. What about the prisoners?"

"Leave them to Carson for now. With your opponent currently unconscious from that duel, and that girl about ready to lay eggs the next time she sees you, I think you've done enough with these jokers. She can handle the rest."

"Aye sir. Uh, if you don't mind me asking, what are we going to do if there isn't any sort of message to be found?"

Fleetfoot spoke quietly, "find something Ka'an. We can't have his name smeared, not now." His shoulders drooped for a second, before he straightened up again. "I'll be in the Gotango's main hanger office till we depart. If I'm needed." He said as he walked away.

I walked to the next hanger that housed the Baddeck and her bare minimum crew now that she has been moved to safety.

"Commander!" Acting Executive Officer Lieutenant Michaels called out. "How are the visitors? Any of them crack yet?"

"That's not important right now Lieutenant." I pushed the question aside. "Have the Baddecks final upgrades been finished?" I asked. "We need her space worthy very soon."

"She's ship shape and ready to fly sir." He answered. "But the crew are curious about the intruders."

I sigh. "Lieutenant, they are being interrogated as we speak. If there is anything that needs to be reported, you'll hear about it. Until then it is a need to know, and right now you don't." I said bluntly.

"Well excuse me. Is there anything else I can do for you sir?" He deadpanned.

"Lose the attitude." I warned.

He straightened, then breathed. "Yes sir."

"Now where are the techs from Northface Base? I have an assignment for them." I queried.

"They're inside making some last minute touch ups to the Baddecks systems. Something about some malware or something." He explained.

I pulled up the current roster for the Baddeck crew compliment on my communicator.

"What's the name of the lead tech?" I asked.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Christopher Lee, sir." Michaels answered.

Hitting the name, it sent a signal to Lee's communicator that I wanted to speak with him.

"There may be something else there they could delete if they're not looking for it." I explained.

My comm beeped his response and then a small holo image of Lee's upper torso and head appeared. "Lee here, what's up Commander?" He responded.

"Lee, halt all your team's current operations. I need you and your Northface team to meet me in the captain's quarters ASAP." I ordered.

"Yes sir. Care to let me know why?"

"In the captain's quarters Lieutenant." I repeated.

Disengaging the comm, I turned and headed for the loading bay of the Baddeck.

"Make sure the rest of the crew know to just keep their minds on their jobs Lieutenant. I don't want anyone distracted and make a mistake by accident." I suggested.

"Yes sir." Michaels affirmed.

Inside the ship, the tech crew was waiting for me in the captain's cabin. They each were a bit anxious, and one was tapping furiously on a laptop.

"Sir." Lee said, snapping his hand to a salute, the rest following suite.

I saluted in return. "At ease. I have an assignment for you and your men."

The group went quiet and waited for me to continue. "General Fornsburge may have left a suicide message in the Baddecks systems. They may even be considered 'malware' to the rest of the regular operating system. So I need you to isolate and show me anything you've found so far and anything you find in the future." I told them. "This is top secret! Do not tell anyone about what you may find or what you are looking for!"

"Aye sir." The four sailors present sounded off.

"Sir, Jackson here has already been checking with what malware we've found sir. She has it isolated and downloaded to that laptop. It's completely safe and it can't get off there unless we want it to." They reported as Jackson sat there typing some more.

"Have you found anything yet Ensign?" I asked.

She turned to me, but was still staring at the computer screen. "Sir, most of what this is is simple junk data that normally finds its way into any computer system. But a few of these are strange, there are patterns like nothing I've ever seen." She said, her voice was lite, studious, but very clear.

"What do you mean Jackson?" I prodded.

"Here." She turned the screen so we could see it. "This one here, when we found it, it looked as though it was a steady pulse. It had a rhythm, but it started acting up while we were over the base and you were dueling that intruder. As a matter of fact it was strongest during the duel." She explained.

"Strongest? Was it some sort of signal?" I asked. "And how long have you been monitoring these?"

"I found the first one about as soon as we got into radar range of Coronado. But before I could report it, you ordered the ship into silent running. The 'signal' I found didn't seem to be messing with any of the ships major functions. Just a minor system, but we weren't using it at the time."

"And after you removed it?" I asked.

"The system checked out 100%. There have been about a dozen different minor systems infected with some sort of malware. All have been given a clean bill of health since they were removed."

"We only have about three systems left to check, one of them is the mazer master system." Lee said.

"Alright, get back to it. Once all the malware is removed, do a full systems check. I'll be on the bridge. Dismissed." I ordered.

"Yes sir." They said in unison, stood and left.

I sat in the Captain's chair on the bridge, thinking back over the past 48hrs, the goo, the general, the infiltration, the duel and now this. Something or someone was pulling strings, a puppeteer to our current situation. We need to find them befor…

"Commander Ka'an, Ensign Jackson."

A chime in the comms interrupted my thoughts.

"Ka'an here, what is it Ensign?" I answered.

"Sir, if you have time, could you come to the galley? I want..no, I need to..talk to you..about..something private, sir."

What in the world is she..? "On..my way Ensign." I said slightly hesitant.

Turning, I handed over the Con to the next in charge on board. Walking the deck and heading below to the galley, I'm trying to figure out why she'd want to get something to eat with meeee….! No! Nononono! She couldn't be, could she? I didn't get that impression when we were talking earlier. She can't possibly be into me! Could she? I tried to keep an air of indifference about me as I stepped into the galley. Ensign Jackson was sitting in the corner by herself, back to the rest of the galley, so she didn't see me walk in.

"Ensign." I said as I stepped closer.

She visibly flinched, before she peeked over her shoulder and looked me in the eye. From what I could see, her cheek had a shade of red to it. My eyebrow shot up, in a questioning manner.

"Oh boy." I said to myself.

To be continued...


	9. Interrogation, Secrets and Love? pt2

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 6: Interrogation, Secrets and Love? pt2

/ word count: 2259

Coronado Base:

A woman sat down across from the young female, and gave her a softer look than what she had been getting from that other guy.

"Howdy. My name's Shelly, what say ye' and I talk some, girl to girl like?" Shelly said politely. "Like for starters, what's ye'r name?"

The young girl didn't answer at first, but the almost joyous look across from her made her resolve melt a little.

"My name's Akiza III." She relented.

"Third huh. So ye're the third person in ye'r family named that. What's so special about that name any how?" Shelly asked.

"My great, great grandmother was the first named Akiza. She was considered a exceptional duelist during her time." Akiza explained.

"Whoowee, sure would have liked to have met her. We could use more duelists of that caliber." Shelly said.

"What about you? What's so special about you?" Akiza asked.

"Nothin', I'm just a really good naval aviation pilot. Oh, and I'm currently third in command of this here base." Shelly said, then looked at Akiza with a sad expression in her eye. "So, the Commander, I know he can be a bit harsh at times…" Shelly began.

"You mean Mister Attitude Problem, right? Puhlease! He's just all talk, if my father knew about what is going on here, he'd have this place shut down in an instant!" She said smugly

"Do ye' know what we do here?" Shelly asked.

"No, maybe, yeah. You're crafting one of those hovercrafts." Akiza answered.

"So ye' was aware of it, before ye' came, and ye's wonder why a lot of people here are angry with ye'?" Shelly questioned.

"All that guy did was yell at me!" Akiza stated.

"Well, okay, but ye' do realize y'all came in here guns blazin' and shot this here place up but good. He's gonna have words for that, and yellin' wouldn't be out of the question." Shelly explained.

Akiza looked away, her expression was one of sadness. "Look, I was at the briefing, and they didn't say anything about shooting! We got here and the first thing one of them did was shoot the gate guard in the head with a big rifle." Tears were threatening to fall.

"Ye' mean a sniper rifle?" Shelly asked.

She nodded, "I was looking through a pair of binoculars, I thought they were tranquilizers, you know, put him to sleep. Just shoot and the guy would just fall down, but he...he...HIS HEAD EXPLODED!!!" She couldn't hold it in anymore. "I WANT TO GO HOME!! I WANT MY FATHER!! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!! IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!! I THOUGHT WE WERE THE GOOD GUYS!! THEY LIED TO ME!!" She screamed while sobbing.

Shelly moved closer to let her cry into her chest, undoing the cuffs so she could hold her closer. "Shhshhshhshhshh, it's okay, it's alright, just let 'er out now."

The screaming took a few moments to stop, but she wasn't done sobbing. "There ye' go, let 'er out now. Ye' won't have to do that anymore."

They stayed there for about five minutes like that. The security cameras catching everything. The girl finally pushed back and breathed deep and sighed heavily.

"Now, who is this person that made ye' come all this way out here to do what ye' did?" Shelly asked.

The Baddeck:

"Jackson!?" I said in a hushed tone. "What's the matter?"

She turned and buried her face into my chest, breathing deep.

She spoke, but it was muffled, "Sir! I think we need to go to someplace more...private." She looked up at me with pleading eyes.

"Uh, I, uh, sure, I...guess." I stammered.

Damn me and my awkwardness around women! I can keep a straight face, but only for so long damn it! We moved out of the galley, she walked ahead of me at a brisk pace. It took me a minute to realize where we were going, straight to the captain's quarters.

"Uh, Ensign…?"

"Not yet! Come on!" She said, hushing me.

She pulled me inside and pushed the door shut behind us. Again, I tried to ask what was going on, but she just shushed me and then put her ear to the door.

"Okay, nobody followed us." She said finally.

"Followed us? Ensign, what is going on here? And why did we need to meet in the captain's cabin?" I asked all at once, my tone of voice betraying me.

She just grinned at me with a sidelong glance, an element of mischievousness dancing in her eyes.

"Oh Commander, can't you tell?" Her eyes were a mix of sultry and puppy dog at the same time.

Shitshitshitshit!!!

"I just wanted some alone time with the man that helped save our lives back in Canada. To show my..gratitude." She got right in my face, her eyes half shut. "And to tell you I found something in the Baddecks computer system." She paused.

It took a moment, then I went beet red from sheer embarrassment.

"Dammit Ensign!!" I shouted, shoving her away from me.

"Hahahaha, you should've seen your face!" She pointed while doubling over laughing. "You really thought I was into you!?"

"I don't know! Maybe! Shut up!" I blustered.

She kept laughing for a solid minute before my irritation slipped through.

"Alright enough Ensign! Tell me why you brought me here now!" I growled.

She snickered, laughter dying down. "Ha, ha, oh, okay." Wiping a tear from her eye, she breathed, regaining some control. "It's about..the general sir. There's a video, but he's not talking to us, or the camera, that is."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's all one sided, he appears to be talking to someone on the other end of a communication. That's about two minutes before you found him. Then he...you know." She said with a little apprehension in her voice.

"Show me." I said.

She reached for her computer, and brought it closer to us.

"Sit over there." I deadpanned, pointing across the table.

"Aw, spoil sport." She got up and moved. Then hit a button on the keyboard and a video began playing.

Northface Base, 69hrs ago:

A static filled screen was soon replaced with a spotty image of the general sitting at the comms station with a headset to his ear.

"This isn't what we agreed to!" The General sounded furious. "No! I won't let my men die! I've never failed them before! You can't ask me to do that!"

A long pause.

"What!?" His expression changed, he almost looked as if he saw death. "Alright. I'll do it." He relented to whoever he was talking to. "Just promise me, she'll be safe. PROMISE ME!!" He was very determined about whoever's he's talking about. Then he tapped a few controls on the Baddecks computer, reached up and turned a key. "It's done. The bomb is set for 72hrs. No one will know about it until it's too late. No tech can break this encryption." He hung his head. "Either way, the goo or the bomb will end us first." He looked down and then asked. "Why couldn't I just bring the ship to you as agreed?"

Another pause.

"They do!? Are you sure? So the plan to only take the Brethren to the stars is in full swing?" He suddenly sounded elated. "Okay. I understand. Praise the Gods. Goodbye senator, and food luck."

The general hung up the headset, then sat back, lighting a cigar and pulling out a small bottle of what I can only assume to be liquid courage.

A moment later, "bridge? Bridge!? Is anyone in there!?" A voice came on the overhead, and someone banging on the hatch outside.

He reached for a console, "Commander? What are you doing here!?"

Coronado Base, Present day:

"..so the plan to only take the Brethren to the stars is in full swing?"

"Brethren?" I mouthed to Jackson, her response was a shrug of the shoulders.

"Okay. I understand. Praise the Gods. Goodbye senator and good luck."

"SENATOR!?" I shouted at the screen.

A few moment later, you can here my voice on the monitor, "bridge? Bridge!? Is anyone in there!?"

The general reached for a console, "Commander? What are you doing here...!?"

I shut it off, I didn't want to re-live what came next, I breathed a moment then I got serious about the situation.

"So, some senator is responsible for all that's happened the last couple of days..?" Jackson began.

"That's not important right now Ensign!" I interrupted. "The general enacted a silent countdown to a bomb! We either find it in the next 3hrs or the Baddeck could take out this entire base! Get to your team and have them check every single system where you found those malware's on! Find that device and shut it down!" I shouted

"Right, yes sir." She said and ran out of the room.

I made my way to the bridge and reached for the ship wide intercom and external speakers.

"ALL HANDS!! THIS IS A RED ALERT!! I REPEAT, THIS IS A RED ALERT SITUATION!! ALL GROUND CREW AND SHIP PERSONNEL GET AWAY FROM THE BADDECK NOW!! A BOMB HAS BEEN ACTIVATED!! I REPEAT, A BOMB IS SET TO GO OFF IN THREE HOURS!! GET AWAY FROM THE SHIP NOW!!" I announced.

I turned to the COB, "Chief, start evacuation of any personnel not needed to get the Baddeck underway and have them all vacate the area!" I ordered.

A few moments later the XO came onto the bridge. "Sir what's going on!? What bomb!?" Michaels asked hurriedly.

"Long story, and we don't have time to go into it right now! Take charge of the evacuations for now. We need the bare minimal crew onboard in 15 minutes to make the Baddeck ready to fly out of here!" I answered.

"Yes sir!" He affirmed, then turned and grabbed the comms officer and told her to follow him off the bridge.

I began checking the computer systems on the bridge for anything that could help me find or disable the bomb.

The comms chimed and Lee's voice rang out. "Commander!?"

I activated my communicator and answered, "Go ahead Lee."

"Ensign Jackson and I found something down near the weapons room sir. It may help us deal with the current situation."

"On my way. Chief, I want all personnel off the Baddeck as soon as she's flight worthy!" I ordered.

The Chief turned to me, "Sir, with all do respect, I and the XO will not leave our commanding officer behind!" He stated.

"If this incident goes south, the remainder of humanity will need all the able bodied people we can muster together. No one is going to selfishly sacrifice themselves just for some dept of honor. If the Baddeck doesn't make it out of this, honor her and her memory by being the best sailor or soldier you can be in the future! Now go!"

He grunted his disapproval, "Aye sir, but we still won't like it."

"Noted." I said as I left the bridge.

I'd gone to a ladder and made my way below decks to the weapons room. The radio on the bridge lit up and the base commanders voice rang through.

"Baddeck!? Baddeck answer!" Fleetfoot's voice sounded over the comms. "Commander you better be pulling my leg, other wise I.."

The Chief grabbed the headset and interrupted the Admiral. "Sir! This is Chief Garrack, the Commander is currently trying to discern the situation."

"Situation!? What situation!?" Fleetfoot demanded.

"It's a bomb sir, someone has activated a bomb on the ship and the Commander is trying to shut it down. Currently all personnel are making their way off the ship. I recommended sequestering anyone getting off the ship into a holding area until we can resolve this sir." Garrack suggested.

"Understood. Alright, have the Commander contact me ASAP!!" Fleetfoot ordered.

"Aye sir." Garrack confirmed.

The Admiral hit a button on his comm screen and the bases security personnel answered.

"Sir?" Came the response.

"I want this base locked down yesterday, this is not a drill. There is a red alert at hanger 217 and I don't want anyone getting away, understood!?" He ordered.

"Aye sir!" The sailor saluted.

The base MP turned and hit a big red glowing button on the console and the entire bases alarm system sounds off.

He grabbed a communicator and alerted all the active and standby MPs, "All MPs to hanger 217! Apprehend all personnel in the vicinity of hanger 217!!" He ordered.

The MPs all rushed to grab gear, arm bands, and weapons. Jumping into Jeeps and driving directly to the hanger. There were about two dozen sailors and soldiers moving away from the hanger while questioning what was going on. The MPs stopped their Jeeps about 50yrds from everyone else and brandished their weapons, barking orders for everyone to get down on the ground and don't move. The whole situation was about to turn south if somebody made even one wrong move. Then the Baddecks engines roared to life, and the hangers top doors began to open. More crew were still spilling out of the hanger, and heading straight into the waiting arms of the MPs.

"ON THE GROUND! GET ON THE GROUND NOW!!" The MPs orderd.

As the Baddeck rose into the air, a rush of wind from the engines nearly push all nearby personnel to the ground.

A chorus of murmured voices all asked, "Where's the Baddeck going!? Who's piloting it!? Commander!"

To be concluded...


	10. Interrogation, Secrets and Love? pt3

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 6: Interrogation, Secrets and Love? pt3

/ word count: 3292

/ (Author's note: All duel actions are random. Multiple choice decisions made by coin toss.)

Coronado Base:

Shelly was just finishing with Akiza, the girl was a complete mess after she finally came to terms with what she got herself into. Cameras recorded the whole session, the names she knew, locations she'd been to. Only thing she couldn't tell was, who the financial backer was and who the other senators may be. She made her way to one of the next rooms, where the bandaged up intruders leader was laying.

She walked up to his room, and hit the intercom, "Lieutenant Commander Carson, open up medic holding cell 4."

The door wooshed open, and she stepped in. The man was bandaged, cast and cuffed to his bed for good measure.

As she stepped up to the foot of his bed, "So, they sent a nice piece of tail to try and get me to talk?" He said through clenched teeth.

"A nice tail ye'll never get to enjoy sugar." She teased. "Not unless ya' wanna tell me somethin' first."

"Oh, you think I'm such an easy target that just because you look nice, and I'm a doped up patient in your fancy facility."

"I wouldn't dream of it." She waffed the file folder at herself. "Woah! Sure is warm in here. Ya' hot?" She removed her jacket and unbuttoned her shirts top buttons.

"What are you doing? Why are you taking your shirt off!?"

"What? It's hot in here like I said." She winked as she lowered her hand across her bosom, revealing cleavage.

The invader stared intently, swallowing a lump in his throat. His body squirmed as he twitched under the sheet. The medication made it harder to resist his primal urges. Shelly wasn't lost on the notion, and pressed the issue thoroughly. Stepping closer around the bed, legs crossing in front of one another slowly, seductively. His eyes followed her curves up and down.

"Ya'know, I was an inmate here in this very buildin' just the other day. And a woman needs certain...thin's, to be comfortable. But I never once," she leaned over to the bed, "had any company in my small..tight..little cell." She made sure to get closer and closer to his face, as to punctuate each word, and had followed his eyes as they began to search her cleavage, which was in full view if he looked straight down his nose.

He was so fixated on her front, he hadn't noticed, as she leaned over his bed, giving him a face full of her chest, she had reached for the medic console and input a command to make him more relaxed and susceptible. A mix of pain medication and sodium pentothal, the later, a known form of truth serum. So he talked, his voice cracking for a bit.

She got everything that the girl gave her and a little more. Like the name of a few senators and something on these Brethren. A Collective of senators, big financial backers, a select number of military personnel across the board and an untold amount of civilians, and one of the senators just so happens to be the father of the young lady in the other room. It is possible she is unaware of the full scope of the backers, but no need to press the issue just yet. He was smiling ear to ear, his eyes began to droop quickly, and she knew the talking was over. She straightened up and reclasped her shirts buttons, going to the foot of the bed, and replacing her jacket on her shoulders.

"Well sugar, hope ya' had a good time." She reached for the comm next to the door, then looking back to her subject. " We're done here.

Adios." She called over her shoulder as she left the room. The intruder was asleep, still wearing a grin.

Once in the hall and making her way to the next cell, "That was easier than I thought. Now just to see what these other boys have to…" she was cut off by an alarm sounding outside.

The base was on high alert, and she wanted to know why. Going to the front desk, and checking out of the building as according to 'regulation,' then made her way outside.

Shelly made it to the sidewalk just as several Jeeps, loaded to bear with fully armed MPs, headed towards the hangers. She got into her own vehicle and went full cowgirl, pedal to the metal and squealing tires on pavement as she raced towards the hangers behind the MPs. She pulled up short were the MPs had stopped so as to not get in the way, noticing all the MPs wielding weapons and pointing them at anyone in front of hanger 217, Baddecks hanger. She was about to ask what was going on, when the Baddeck began lifting off the ground.

"What!?" She exclaimed.

A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, she turned suddenly to see Admiral Fleetfoot standing there with his own entourage of soldiers with him and his personal humvee.

"Lieutenant Commander Carson! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be interrogating the prisoners?" He asked.

"I did sir, Miss Akiza III and the individual who was defeated in the duel, were quite forth comin' with details to why they were here. The girl was so distraught and frightened, it took several minutes of her letting her emotions out for her to tell me all she knew. Which wasn't enough for what ya' asked o' me."

"So what did you find out?" He asked, but she didn't get the chance to answer before the Baddeck lifted high into the air. "What in Sam Hill is going on here!?" He asked of anyone listening.

"Admiral!" A voice called out from across the way, beyond the MPs.

One of the techs, a young female Ensign, she was waving at him furiously. "Over here!" She yelled.

"Ensign!" The Admiral said as he approached her. "What is going on!? Why is that ship taking off!?" He demanded.

"It's the Commander, sir. We found the bomb.." Jackson began.

"Bomb!?" Carson questioned.

"Yes ma'am. Since it wasn't directly wired to any system except for it's activation, we almost couldn't find it. It's wasn't the ships actually auto-destruct, but at least 30lbs of C4 right next to the main weapons room." She explained.

"What!? That much plastique coupled with the weapons onboard could level this base!" The Admiral yelped.

"That's why he's flying the Baddeck out to sea!" She finished.

"WHAT!?" All present yelled at Jackson at once.

"He wants to get as much distance between us and that explosion as possible." She explained.

"Why didn't you or any other techs try to disarm it!?" Fleetfoot queried.

"We tried but he wouldn't hear of it! There was a system attached to the bomb, and it was being fed power from the Baddeck itself. When we tried to hack in and deactivate it, the system set off an alarm and the timer sped up. There's less than 40 minutes till she blows!"

"So why didn't he just set the ship to a course and jump off?" Fleetfoot asked.

"Wait! Ya' mentioned a system attached to the bomb Ensign." Carson pointed out. "What kind o' system?"

She hesitated, "A..duel system.. ma'am."

"Duel system!? What kind of world are we living in that someone leaves duel monster cards just strewn about!?" Fleetfoot questioned.

"A world were the only thin' to interfere with the goo is a energy field generated by duelin'. But to have a system in place for someone to deactivate a bomb by due….!" Carson's eyes went wide with realization. "No! No he wouldn't!"

"But he did ma'am. He's taking the ship out to sea first in case he should fail." Jackson said.

Fleetfoot interjected, "You mean to tell me.."

"Ka'an is goin' to try and defuse the bomb by duelin' it." Carson finished.

They all looked to the Baddeck as it was moving at a steady pace further from the base.

"Damn him." Someone whispered under their breath so no one could hear.

The Baddeck: Duel!! Ka'an vs Bomb

"Okay, course is set, 100 miles out to sea should be far enough." I said to no one in particular.

I was able to get what few crew were still onboard to check different compartment systems and then subsequently get them off the ship. The last was Jackson, and I literally had to boot her off the ship with my own foot for her to go. I tricked the Chief and XO to check for something outside the ship just before I gave the command to take off. Then I closed the hatches behind them via a command board. They protested, then I had to lie to Jackson about needing her help in moving the ship with her tech expertise, after we cleared all other crewman. But as soon as it was just me and her, I wrenched her arm and forced her to a lower hold. I hit the hatch release and kicked her out and now, I was the sole soul onboard a potentially flying death trap.

"Down to business." I said as I went to the bomb.

I made a check to see if I could connect my duel device to the bombs system. There it is, now I can use my own cards to do this and not some potentially weak preset by whoever designed this. The systems screen lit up, and a small duel field was projected onto the screen.

A computerized voice spoke out, duel_parameters_initiated: duel_deck_set: begin_duel_combat_scenario: draw: activate_future fusion_spell_card: then_summon_cyber dragon drei_in_attack_mode:

A metal reptilian like creature with golden trim and yellow lights throughout its entire body formed on the screen.

turn_over:

Hm, an odd choice, but who am I to argue with a program.

"I draw!" I picked up the top card and looked at it. "I summon Cyber Valley in attack mode." I said.

My card too has a metal reptilian look, but it has red gems down it's side.

"That ends my turn." I finished.

draw: reveal_fusion_monster_chimeratech overdragon:

send_cyber dragon_and_six_other_machine_type_monsters_to_the_graveyard: in_one_turn_I_win:

"What? That was way to humanized to be simple computer banter." I noted to myself.

enemy_combatant_recognized: simulation_confirmed: battle: now_cyber dragon drei_attack_cyber valley:

An arrow went across the screen towards my valley.

"I activate Cyber Valleys effect! I banish it ending the battle phase, then I can draw one new card!" I countered.

turn_over:

"I draw!" Crap, my hand isn't great. "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn." I finished.

draw: special_summon_chimeratech overdragon_in_attack_mode:

A pool of swirling colors formed on the screen, then the monsters turned into flares and shot into the vortex of color then a huge flash shot out. A metallic snake like body with seven heads, one for each material used to summon it, appeared.

he_now_has_4800_attack_points_and_can_attack_upto_seven_times_per_turn:

Then something happened, the chimeratech shimmered and then all the cards on the opponent's field went to the graveyard.

error_error_chimeratech overdragon_effect: removes_cards_on_field: future fusion_is_gone: field_is_empty:

error_error_does_not_compute: error_error

"Oh for the sake of the gods! I'll do it myself!" A male voice rang out from the computer speaker. If it wasn't male, it was altered somehow.

"What!?" I said surprised.

"Sorry about that. But it seems our system isn't setup good enough to hold down a duel just yet." He explained.

"Who are you!?" I demanded.

"That's not important right now." He said.

"What is important is you trying to win this duel you initiated. Not that it matters. I see you only have 25 minutes left." He noted.

"Then let's continue!" I said.

"My pleasure. I set one monster facedown and end my turn. Your move Commander Freeman." He finished.

"You know who I am?" I asked.

"Tick tock Commander." He teased.

"Fine! I draw! First I activate Magical Mallet, returning three cards to my deck, reshuffle, and draw three new cards. Next I'll tribute my facedown monster to summon my friend, Prime Material Dragon in attack mode!" I said.

A golden dragon with six wings appeared from the card.

"Next I set two spell/trap cards facedown, battle! Prime Material Dragon, attack his monster!" I commanded.

An arrow flew across the field, and the facedown card exploded.

"I end my turn." I finished.

"Then I'll draw. Well now, looks like this is going to hurt. I summon Cipher Wing in attack mode." He began.

A small green gem with weird green and gold wings appeared.

"I think, I'll stop there. Your move Commander." He pressed.

I hate this, he knows me, probably knows more than that, and I don't have a clue as to who is on the other side of the screen.

"I draw! I'll summon Engraver of the Mark in attack mode. Then because I was able to normal summon, I can special summon Kagetokage from my hand in defense mode!" I said.

A man with dual rapier swords appeared then his shadow moved across the field and a lizard shaped shadow formed.

"Battle! Prime Material Dragon attack his Cipher Wing!" I commanded.

The arrow flew towards the little green gem.

"Not so fast, I send Honest from my hand to the graveyard, giving my Cipher Wing your dragons attack points! And that means you lose 1100 life points!" He countered.

The Cipher Wing grew to double size, the arrow reversed and went for my dragon, destroying him and dealing me 1100 in damage. 6900lp

"Tch! You may have stopped my attacks, but you can't stop my Engravers effect! Target his Cipher Wing and mark him for destruction!" I said.

A giant Z formed underneath his Cipher Wing.

"I end my turn." I finished.

"I draw then. Hm, I summon Galaxy Wizard in attack mode."

A monster in white cloth and large blue cape appeared.

"Then use its effect to tribute itself to gain a Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon to my hand." He said.

I narrowed my eyes, "Galaxy-Eyes?" I said to myself.

"Now, battle! Cipher Wing attack Engraver!" He commanded.

"I activate my trap, Storming Mirror Force! Now your attack position monsters are returned to your hand!" I countered.

"So be it. Very well, I end my turn." He finished.

"I draw! I summon Pandora's Jewelry Box in attack mode!" I said.

A white chest with gold trimmings formed.

"Now battle! Engraver and Pandora attack him directly!" I commanded.

Arrows went across the field and struck my opponents avatar dealing him 3300 in damage. 4700lp

"That ends my turn." I finished.

"I draw. Ah ha!" He exclaimed excitedly. "I activate Photon Veil, this lets me return three light monsters from my hand to the deck, then add up to three new light monsters to my hand, as long as they all have the same name. And I have the perfect set to gain. Three Cipher Wings!" He explained.

"What? Oh no!" I knew what he was going to do.

"Now I summon Cipher Wing, then I special summon two more from my hand. I then tribute one of them to give the other two four more levels making them both level eight. Now I build the overlay network and use both my remaining monsters to xyz summon, Galaxy-Eyes Cipher Dragon in attack mode!"

A galaxy appeared on the screen as the two monsters became light and were sucked into the stars, then a torrent of light shot out. A large glowing dragon with blue and red armor, with wings that looked like stained glass windows flared into existence with two little glowing orbs floating around it.

"Now I use one overlay unit to take control of your Engraver, making it a copy of my own dragon."

One of the glowing orbs disappeared into the dragon, and then a beam of energy overtook my monster, when the light faded, a second dragon was standing on my opponent's field.

"Now what to do?" He sounded playfully. "How about I attack your Pandora with my new Galaxy-Eyes? Battle! Attack his Pandora!" He commanded.

"I activate Electromagnetic Turtle from my graveyard! By banishing it, I can end the battle before it's even begun!" I countered.

An arrow flew across the field, then a bubbled shield, sparking with electricity, formed over my field blocking the attack.

"Fine then, but before the end of my turn, and you getting your monster back to use that loathe some effect, I think I'll sacrifice both of these dragons to special summon my Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon in atk mode." He said.

A different glowing dragon with blue and red armor with wings of photonic energy appeared on the field.

"I think that's enough for now. Your move." He finished.

"I draw! Since I control Pandora's Jewelry Box, and my extra deck is empty, I can draw two cards instead of one each turn."

A little

"Now to make you pay for what you've done! I summon Bull Blader in attack mode!" I said.

A minotaur, clad in bronze and black armor, wielding a massive broadsword, and red horns, formed on the field.

"And next I activate the equip spell, Moon Mirror Shield, and give it to my Pandora." I said.

A large round gold and moon silver shield formed in front of the jewelry box.

"Now Pandora gains 100 attack points over whatever monster it battles, and speaking of which, battle!

Bull Blader attack his Galaxy-Eyes! When Bull Blader battles a monster, that monster is automatically destroyed during the battle step!" I explained.

"I activate my Galaxy-Eyes ability! I can banish both our monsters till the end of the battle phase and save my monster from your cards destructive ability." He countered.

Both monsters vanished from the field.

"Fine, but my Pandora is free to attack you directly!" I commanded.

The arrow flew at my opponents avatar dealing him 1500 in damage. 3200lp

"That ends my turn, and both our monsters return to the field." I finished.

"So be it. I draw. I set one spell/trap card facedown, battle! Galaxy-Eyes attack his Kagetokage!" He commanded.

An arrow flew across the field and struck the shadow destroying it.

"You activated my trap, Soul Rope! When my monster is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can pay 1000 life points to special summon a level four or lower monster from my deck to the field! I choose my Mirage Dragon in attack mode!" I countered.

A gold armor clad dragon forms from the card. 5900lp

"Now during the battle phase, you can't use any trap cards." I explained.

"Fine, I end my turn." He finished.

"I draw two cards. Next I activate my facedown Jar of Avarice, this lets me return five cards in my graveyard back into my deck, reshuffle, and draw one new card. Now I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh in attack mode!" I said.

A monster with electricity flowing around it formed on the screen.

"Now I have locked down either of us searching our decks to add cards to our hands, and I can negate one special summon on the field!" I explained.

"Grrr!! You haven't beaten us yet Commander! We will find a way! We will have what is rightfully ours!" He threatened.

"Blah blah, battle! Pandora attack Galaxy-Eyes with Moon Shield Slam!" I commanded.

There was no reply from my mystery opponent. The arrow went and connected with the dragon and he was destroyed, dealing him 100 in damage. 3100lp

Now Mirage Dragon and Rai-Oh attack him directly!!"

Two arrows reached the opponents avatar dealing him 3500 in damage. 0lp

The bomb was counting down to its final seconds before the timer shut down. 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, then the computer sputtered and crackled with electricity, burning all it's data away. I breathed a sigh of relief, but little did I know, my troubles had only just begun.


	11. Stupid

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 7: Stupid

/ word count: 2271

Coronado Base:

"Of all the irresponsible, reckless, stupid, idiotic, selfish acts anyone of your rank should never have pulled off! Taking the Baddeck out to sea alone just to stupidly try and disarm a bomb by your stupid self! Which you nearly stupidly failed I might add! And you nearly killed yourself stupid! Reckless, idiotic, stupid, irresponsible, selfish, and down right stupid!! Have I mentioned it was stupid!?" Admiral Fleetfoot was yelling at the top of his lungs at Commander Ka'an for what he did.

Taking the ship to sea just to keep the damage, from an explosion near the magnitude next to what a nuke could have been, to a minimum. He was being chewed out, demoted, then promoted several times in a single, never ending paragraph.

"Poor guy." Lieutenant Commander Shelly Carson said to no one in particular.

"Is he going to be alright?" Ensign Sarah Jackson asked.

"Yeah, the Admiral gave me a similar talkin' to after I'd wrecked my third vehicle, then I gave 'em a black eye because I was irritated." Shelly stated nonchalantly.

Sarah went stiff with a look of sheer terror, confusion and amusement on her face all at the same time.

"Spent a week in the brig for that one. Then I was put on the mission to fly the parts your Baddeck needed and now here we are." She explained.

"Only a week?" Sarah questioned.

"Oh I'm sure me bein' a grey haired old bitty was what the Admiral had in mind 'fore I saw the light o' day again, but the goo attacked and all. He sorta had no choice but to send me along." Shelly said.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Christopher Lee sat across the hallway from the women, and was only half listening to their conversation. He wasn't even trying to listen to the Admiral chew out the Commander. He was trying to catch the eye of a pretty redhead receptionist the Admiral had. If she had an eye even partially in his direction, he'd make googly eyes and try to be charming..from 20ft away.

"Give it up Christopher." Sarah deadpanned from across the hall, killing the moment Christopher was trying so hard to establish.

"Bu..ga..wha?" He stuttered.

"She's not interested in boys. She only likes other girls. Last guy that tried to mess with her was laid up in a hospital bed for two weeks. And that was before I went in the brig." Shelly explained.

"Oh yeah?" Christopher asked smuggly.

"Yeah. Cause I was one of her exploits. Mmm..what a night." She said.

He hung his head in defeat. "Awe man. She's one of the prettiest women here too." He said, then almost instantly regretted it.

A bag with a laptop, glasses case, spare glasses, make-up kit, wires, headphones, and generally about 30lbs of stuff not meant for throwing, suddenly slammed into his head and he was reeling from the impact, and fell to the floor. Sarah got up, and stormed off without another word.

"Ow..," was all he could get out after she left, then after some time to readjust, "was it something I said?" He questioned, sitting up rubbing his head for the pain.

"Boy you must be blind." Shelly said flatly.

The office door swung open and Fleetfoot stepped out.

"Would you people keep it down out here!? I'm trying to conduct a meeting!!" Then he slammed the door shut again. "Now where was I? Oh yes, stupid, idiotic, reckless…!"

Sarah stormed away from the building, fuming about what Christopher said in the hallway.

"Grah! Who does he think he is!" She said out loud. "She's not that pretty!" She pointed out to nobody. "What does she have that I don't!?" She said to herself.

She went off towards the Baddecks hanger to do something, anything, just so long as she was away from him.

After the Admiral was finished ripping me a new one, he had meant to call in the other three for a debrief about all that had been discovered and done in the past few hours, but only two entered and Lee seemed to be holding his head as if he was in a little pain.

"Where is Ensign Jackson!? I told all three of you to be here!" He fumed.

"Well, you see sir, it was…" Christopher began.

"Christopher said somethin' stupid and got a headache for it. Then she stormed off." Finished Shelly.

"Bah. Fine. She doesn't really need to be in these discussions anyways." He said as he sat down. "Now down to business." He looked over at me. "Care to share what happened onboard the Baddeck Commander!?"

I gritted my teeth at the tone. "Aye sir. As I was dueling the computer program, it seemed to make some decent moves, but it made a fatal flaw with its first card. Then when the computer completely failed to duel, someone else took control of the duel live." I explained.

"Live!?" The two new occupants said together.

"You mean to tell me someone was watching everything that was happening!?" Christopher questioned.

"Not just watching, they even knew exactly who was dueling, my name, rank, everything." I added.

"That means they'r somehow watchin' this entire base, all our actions. We could have a mole here somewhere!" Shelly stated.

"That's right. All the personnel that was in the Baddecks hanger, and those that came from Northface are already being questioned and looked into as we speak." Fleetfoot said.

"We'll have to increase the list o' personnel to the entire base sir." Shelly mentioned.

"What do you mean Carson?" Ask Fleetfoot.

"When I was talkin' to Miss Akiza and she finally opened up to me, she thinks you'r not cute by the way," she motioning to me. "Then she told me a number of thin's that she'd witnessed and as many names as she knew."

"I'm what?" I asked.

"Focus Commander!" Fleetfoot said. "What else Carson?"

"I went to talk to ye'r duel opponent, and he opened up to me as well."

"How?" I asked.

"Feminine charm." She said snarkly.

"I don't even want to know how, but tell us what you did get." Fleetfoot said.

"Much the same as what Akiza told me, but he knew a few more thin's. Like how Akizas' dad, the senator, is one of the political backers for this Brethren Collective."

"Brethren!? That's the same thing the General said on the video." I interjected.

"What video?" Fleetfoot asked.

"Lee and his team where overhauling the Baddecks computer systems, and found several anomalies, or malware. One was a recording done before the Baddeck left dry dock. Before he..shot himself."

The mood in the room shifted a degree, then the Admiral motioned for me to continue.

"It is only a one sided conversation, but he was very clear he was talking to a senator, and that he was part of a group of god worshippers known as the Brethren. He was also clear he did not want to harm his men, merely deliver the Baddeck to this Brethren. But they changed the plan and he was forced to activate the bomb with a delayed reaction. It was by this video that we learned about the bomb. The last thing is that he wants someone else, someone very precious to him, protected and the Brethren knows who, or already has whoever in their grasps." I explained.

Christopher was still rubbing his head when he left the building and walked back to the Baddeck hanger. He was carrying all of Sarah's stuff, and was still a bit confused about what had happened.

"Why'd she throw her stuff at me? I wasn't being mean to her. I didn't say anything bad about her. So what was she so upset about?" He said to himself.

Walking the rest of the way in silent self debate, he nearly walked right into the Baddecks XO.

"Whoa there Lee." Lieutenant Michaels alerted.

Christopher snapped out of his own head and stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh! Sir! Sorry, I was just thinking about...something."

"Care to elaborate or do you need some time to get your head on straight?"

"The later sir. I'm going to check with my team and then head to my bunk for awhile."

"Alright then, just don't stay there. We need to run a full systems check again thanks to the shenanigans that happened. Get started asap, but maybe clean up that wound first." He pointed at Christophers' head.

"Aye sir. I'll stop by the medbay before anything else."

The XO sent him on his way and said he'd contact him when he was needed. Christopher walked up the loading bay of the Baddeck and went straight to the medbay. The Doctor was a middle-aged man with salt and pepper black hair. There was a nurse onboard as well, and she was the Doctors wife. Nurse Melody was clearing some used bandages and prepping a standard tray with fresh utensils, pads and medication.

She looked up and saw him coming in. "Christopher Lee! What have you done to yourself now!?" She stomped her foot.

Her husband heard from around a curtain at his desk. "Anything serious honey?" He asked, not paying much attention.

"No sweetie, he just has a bump to the head. I can handle it."

"Okay." Returning to his paperwork.

"You! Get over here and sit down now!" She pointed at Christopher and then to an empty bed.

Lee sighed and did as he was told. Then without warning the nurse hugged him and didn't let go.

"Aw mom. Come on that's embarrassing." Christopher said.

Then the doctor looked past the curtain to see his son, "Oh hey son. What's happened now?"

"Nothing serious dad, just a bump on the head."

"Don't give me that! Let me see!" His mom said and yanked him down to her level.

"Hey! Careful with the patient mom!"

"Oh don't give me that! Now how did you get this?" She asked.

"Uh, well, I was talking to Ensign Jackson and Lieutenant Commander Carson, when suddenly Jackson hit me across the head with her stuff here, then stormed off." He told.

"Stormed off? So she just hit you without provocation?" The Doctor asked.

"Well I was talking about how the Admirals receptionist was one of the prettiest women I've ever seen..ayiyiyiyi!" His head was suddenly yanked down by the ear.

"Stupid!! What were you thinking!?" His mom screamed in his ear, making it ring. "You never say that about anyone if the person that likes you is right next to you!!"

Lee's head shook for a second before he could regain some of his bearings, then he realized what his mom was saying.

"Wait. You mean that Jackson..and I, but she's just a colleague?"

His mom gave him a lite smack across the cheek, and he looked at her questioningly.

"Now go find her and apologize like a man should!"

"But..?"

"No buts! Go! Get out of here! And don't come back without a grandchild!"

"Now wait just a min.." He was cut off by the medbay doors shutting in his face, "..nute." He sighed.

After checking with the rest of his team, giving instruction to begin double checking all of the computer systems.

"Sir, where is Jackson?" Another Ensign asked.

"She's, taking a break from the whole bomb affair and briefings. I'll have her come and join you once she is rested." He lied. "Just get on it. I'll be back as soon as I get some rest myself."

Christopher walked back to his bunk, he could use with a rest before he got back to work. He stepped between the rows and grabbed his curtain, pulling it back to get into his bed, only he couldn't get in, because there was a petite female body already there, and she was asleep.

"Uh, um." He was stumped.

What was he supposed to do, then he pokes her on the cheek. She stirred, opening her eyes and looked up to see Christopher. Then her eyes went wide and her pupils shrank to pin pricks. She hadn't even realized she fell asleep on his bed after she had broken down.

"Chris...?"

"Uh, hey Sarah…, my mom says that there's this girl that might like me." He said sheepishly.

"So. Not like anyone can compare to a beautiful red headed receptionist." She leaned back and frowned at him.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I had no idea about..your..feelings for me, and I didn't know about her..preferences." He apologized.

She gave a deadpanned look.

"Er, I mean, I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings or anything." He said.

She said nothing.

"And, um, I just wanted to..know..if you'd be..willing to..talk to me about it?" He asked cringing.

Again, she said nothing. Simply standing and starting to walk away.

"Oh for the love of..!" Christopher said as he grabbed her arm.

She turned with no small amount of surprise in her face. Suddenly his lips were on hers and he was pulling her in closer than she was ready for. However, her eyes soon closed and she returned the affection. It took a few moments for them to finally separate and take a breath.

"You know, you can be real stupid sometimes." Sarah said.

Then they leaned into each others embrace even more and continued showing their affections for one another for another hour or so. The looks they got from some of their crewmates for the next few days were of sheer annoyance, except from his mom, she wouldn't stop talking about it.

"Grandbabies!!"


	12. The Brethren pt1

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 8: The Brethren pt1

/ word count: 2291

One month after the fall of Northface Base, the goo has moved across much of the northern Americas, only the border between Canada and the US remains. Experts calculate that it won't take more than two months to completely cover the planet.

"Since most of the planet is already under the goos influence, it is taking less time for it to make it's final push across the Americas." Someone had said.

Right now, the Baddeck, commanded by Commander Freeman, and the Gotango, commanded by Captain Riker, are currently heading south to the US, Mexico border. Ordered to overwatch duty of the new FOB setup just 50 miles north of the Alamo river. All remaining citizenry have already been moved south of the borders or off to one of the orbital platforms above the planet. All that remains on the ground are about 10,000 military personnel, a handful of animals for food for the remaining military personnel to use at their leisure, seven of the cruisers and, a couple dozen of the smaller transport craft, to eventually ferry the remaining personnel to the orbital platforms. Everything was going according to the master plan to try and save what was left of the planets populace from the ever growing threat of black goo. That was the official report, unofficially, there are only 5 cruisers and about two dozen transports remain below, with nearly 100,000 individuals still on the planet surface with roughly half of them trying to kill the other half for control of the remaining resources of the planet. The Brethren Collective was forced out of hiding when a report was made public with nearly 100 high ranking military officials, politicians, and wealthy financiers names were mentioned. Then three cruisers and a dozen transports disappeared without so much as a shot fired. 50,000 individuals, military personnel and civilians alike, all disappeared from different corners of the American continents. Then the bombs started to explode, first they weren't much more than just empty buildings, old rusty cars in empty lots, then the explosions started happening on empty and deserted bases not far from the current forward operations base, or FOB.

New Alamo:

"Rear Admiral, news just came from satellite reports and the orbital command structure." The young redheaded receptionist said. "Reports are that the Brethren are massing about 100 miles North of our location."

The Rear Admiral sighed. "Great, do they truly believe that they can just stay on Earth with that goo!?"

"No sir. It's reported that they plan on taking control of all remaining ground resources and then make a go for the main orbital platforms."

"But that's even more suicidal! They have more than 10 our current fire power already in orbit. The only thing that could turn the tide in that sort of battle is if they already have people up there to disable them first." He looked to his receptionist. "Are there any reports on known saboteurs possibly onboard any of the orbital platforms or carriers!?"

"Negative sir. All personnel were thoroughly check and there is limited access for all citizenry onboard those vessels. The probability of anyone being onboard and could cause any form of espionage, are remote." She finished.

"Well that's one headache I hope we won't have to worry about. How soon is it estimated that they would begin attacks against us?" He asked.

"At any moment sir. Satellite thermal imagery shows that all missing vessels and the numbers of the missing personnel and citizenry are all just 100 miles away, as of five minutes ago."

"Contact the Baddeck and the Gotango, I want both vessels here with their full complement of weapons loaded for bear! Begin moving all non-essential personnel, gear, tech, and resources off base and further south with any transports we still have. Anyone that doesn't need to be here for these fights are to leave, and that includes you as well Agatha."

The use of her name caught her off guard. "Sir?"

"Don't 'sir', me. You're a good receptionist, but you are not a fighter." His voice softened. "And I don't want my only living relative, my grandchild, to be harmed before we have a chance to get off this planet. You, all the young, need to survive, you need to be there to help rebuild a new world."

Tears formed in Agatha's eyes, but she kept her practiced posture. Her voice, however was cracking, "Grandpa.." she wiped the tears away. "But I want to stay with you. If you don't make it, who will I have?"

He stepped forward and wrapped her in a loving hug. "My dear sweet grandchild, I've had a time raising you by myself. Between that and trying to keep my career going. It was an adventure, for both of us." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"Ahaha, yeah." Nervous chuckling and sniffling. "We had our fights too. I remember when you grounded me from my prom after I skipped classes for a month."

"Still can't believe you were able to hide that from me. And your teachers! Boy when they caught you.." He couldn't resist the tears forming anymore. "You remind me so much of your mother, and grandmother. The women of this family have always been the cornerstones of our households."

Her tears were streaming, but she didn't wail into his chest, just lite sobbing. They stayed there for a few more moments, then Fleetfoot finally let go and told her to carry out her orders. She left the office but it took her another moment to clear the tears enough to complete her task.

A few hours prior, I was overseeing the final checklist of weapons maintenance and systems onboard what is now my vessel to command. The Baddeck has virtually been mine ever since it left the ground in Canada, and the Admiralty didn't see any reason to remove me from my position. Lieutenant Commander Carson was made my Executive Officer, upon my request. The prior XO, Lieutenant Michaels, was moved to the Gotango and he was given the rank of Lieutenant Commander for his service. I had just completed my rounds checking the Baddecks systems and making sure she was fully stocked with the required weapons and power source for the inevitable fight ahead.

"Captain." A southern bells voice chimed over the communicator.

"Yes XO." I answered.

"The Baddeck is 100% and ready to go at a moment's notice sir. Do we have time for dinner in the officers lounge?"

"I think so, meet you there, and gather all officers and department heads for debrief too." I ordered.

"Boy ya' really know how to kill a mood." She sounded deflated.

"And what mood is that?" I asked.

"...nevermind sir. We'll be there and ready for debrief asap."

"Copy that." As I deactivated the comm. "What's with that woman?"

Making my way through a few other departments, getting 'all ready' reports, with sailors and soldiers gearing for battle. Finally reaching the bridge, I found that the XO had placed the ship in the capable hands of Ensign Raven.

"Captain on deck!" She sounds off.

"Carry on Ensign. I'll be in the officers lounge if needed." I said.

"Aye sir." She replied.

Then I made my way aft and entered the lounge. All stood and gave salutes. I saluted back and all sat again.

"Dig in ladies and gentlemen. This may be the last of our quiet meals for awhile. Hamburgers and fries, your idea I'm guessing Shelly" I said.

After the orders were given, the FOB, nicknamed New Alamo by personnel on the ground, was emptied of everything non-essential except for those prepared to do battle with the Brethren forces. Inside the command structure, a hand reached for the comms.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this may very well be the last ground assault of planet Earth." Admiral Fleetfoot's voice sounded across every speaker. "We are the only line of defense for all that lay behind us. Either they don't make it across this spot, or we don't leave this planet. It was an honor serving with you all."

The comms went silent, then every ship and armed personnel went weapons ready. External ports were opened and turrets moved into position, rifles were slung and shouldered, then everyone breathed to steady their nerves. In the distance, a small cloud of dust can be seen coming closer.

"Sir, Radar and satellite can only detect ground forces moving in. None of the cruisers or transports are in sight and estimated 2/3 of their numbers are what's coming." A Warrant Officer reported.

"Tell the Gotango and the Baddeck to fall back a few miles to the east and west in case of an ambush, but to stay within gun range in case we need their support."

"Aye sir." He answered.

The dust cloud grew bigger, then the land vehicles began to spread out, making the cloud grow.

"Wait till we can see the whites in their eyes!" Fleetfoot used the old war phrase.

"Sir! The comms are down!" An Ensign reported.

"What!?" Fleetfoot said surprised.

"They have a signal jammer active, we don't have any communication, not even satellite!" The Warrant Officer added in.

"Get on the roof and fire a flare! That will signal the cruisers to return!" He ordered.

"Aye sir!" The Ensign said, volunteering.

Going to the emergency kits, he grabbed a flare gun and made his way to the top of the short three story building. He stood on top of the building and loaded the flare, he raised an arm and was about to pull the trigger when there was a faint pinch of pain, then he suddenly felt too weak to stand. He looked down to see blood coming from his chest, his arm fell to his side, dropping the gun.

"Admira.." He said weakly, then fell over and was silenced.

The Gotango:

"Captain Riker, the enemy is getting closer to New Alamo. Orders?" Michaels asked.

"Our orders were to hold back until called apon. Are the weapons trained on the approaching forces?" Captain Riker asked.

"Aye sir. All weapons loaded and ready for an assault against the enemy." Michaels answered.

"Con, Comms." The communication officer chimed.

"Comms, Con. Go ahead."

"We're picking up a lot of static on all wavelengths. We've lost signal from New Alamo and everyone else." They reported.

Captain Riker sat and thought for a minute before answering.

"XO, make visual communication with New Alamo." He ordered.

"Aye sir." He turned to the intercom. "Get me a pair of binoculars and sniper team in the nest."

"Yes sir, on their way." Was the reply.

Michaels left the bridge and headed up to the nest. When he got there, the sniper and spotter were already looking in the direction of New Alamo.

"Get down sir!" The spotter suggested.

"What is it sailor?" Michaels asked.

"Marine sir, and there appears to be a few anomalies in the fields between us and New Alamo." He said.

"Anomalies?" Michaels questioned.

"Yes sir, some strange bushes that weren't there before. And we know because we trained in these fields just two days ago. There were a specific number of brush and potential sniper covers, now there are about a dozen more, and that's just what we can see from here."

As if to punctuate his words, the zing of a bullet and thunk of metal on metal was heard.

"Sniper!!" The Marine shouted.

"Get below deck now!" Michaels ordered.

Scrambling while hugging the deck, and they each slide into the hatch and closed it behind them. Michaels reported to the Captain.

"Sir, there are enemy snipers in the fields between us and New Alamo. There may be more positioned elsewhere."

Captain Riker thought for a second. "Maneuver in a wide arc towards the approaching forces in an intercept course. Battle speed! Weapons hot! And charge the mazer!" He ordered.

The Baddeck:

The crew was making weapons ready and getting ready to charge the mazer cannon. All hands were on deck and ready for the signal that the fighting was starting, but the word never came from New Alamo. Then the comms operator notified the captain of loss of communication.

"Con, Radar, what does your sensors tell you?" I asked.

"Radar, Con, my screen is completely clear." Was the reply.

"Clear? What about the approaching forces!?"

"Negative sir. I've got nothing."

I didn't wait a heartbeat. "Red alert! Weapons hot! Move the Baddeck back to New Alamo now!!" I ordered, since I've experienced this before.

"Con, nest, visual on the Gotango, it's moving towards the enemy forces!" They reported.

"Get us to New Alamo now XO! We're not going to wait here for any orders! I smell a trap!" I said.

Shelly turned and directed the pilots actions.

"Sir, weapons fire from below. Snipers!" Came the report from the nest.

"Guns, rake the ground from here to New Alamo! Fire!!" I ordered, then muttered under breath. "It's started."

We watched as the Gotango maneuvered to intercept the incoming forces and opened fire with the mazer first, devastating the first few dozen vehicles in a wide swipe of the weapons fire. We headed for New Alamo, the nest was pelted with sniper rounds the entire time.

"Thermals on all ground troops! I want to know who's where at all times!" I ordered. "Can we establish visual communication with New Alamo yet?"

The question went unanswered as the entire ship suddenly lurched from being hit by powerful weapons fire.

"Report!"

"Enemy energy weapons fire! To the west, port side, enemy cruiser closing in!" Came the report.

"Come about! Charge mazer! Weapons, give the approaching ground forces a taste of the starboard broad guns! Fire!!"

To be continued...


	13. The Brethren pt2

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 8: The Brethren pt2

/ word count: 2166

The Gotango:

They were hitting the approaching ground troops and vehicles, hard. The mazer making short work of the enemy and the guns hitting dozens of targets a minute. Then some explosions happened just ahead, there was fire from the south hitting the enemy. Visuals on the Baddeck moving off to the west while strafing their frontal assault with the broadguns.

"Sir, visual on enemy cruiser, the Baddeck is turning to engage." Nest reported.

"Just one? They have three cruisers to bear down on us if they so choose." Captain Riker stated.

"Yes sir, we haven't seen any others yet. There also appears to be some smoke coming from the Baddecks aft port side. It may have been the enemy cruisers doing." Nest said.

"Come about and head for New Alam…" he was interrupted by the ship being struck with a powerful weapons fire.

"Sir!" Michaels yelled. "Cruiser to the east, port side! Five miles out!" He reported.

"An ambush! They wanted us to spread our forces and then attack from all angles." Captain Riker Said. "The front was a diversion so the cruisers could maneuver around our flanks. If we hit the front, we get slammed from the sides, if we fight the sides, New Alamo is defenseless from the front!" He grunted with frustration. "Come about! Attack that cruiser! Then we'll sweep up the ground forces when we come back!"

The Baddeck:

"Try to just disable their engines and weapons! If at all possible, we need to do minimal damage!" I ordered.

"Their mazer is charging sir!" Nest reported.

"Angle off thirty degrees starboard, gain some altitude, now bring 'er back down to the deck!" Shelly ordered.

The enemy mazer fire barely missed us, grazing the top deck, scorching it.

"That was too close." I noted. "How's the mazers' charge!?"

"Mazer at 90%, five seconds to full charge!" The weapons officer reported.

"Get us as close as you can! Aim for the aft section of the cruiser! We'll cleave their engines clean off! Once they're unable to maneuver or fly we'll head back to New Alamo!"

The pilot throttled the engines to full and put the Baddeck nearly parallel with the enemy cruiser.

"Ya' doin' a rope-a-dope Lieutenant?" Shelly asked the pilot.

"Yes ma'am!" He answered.

New Alamo:

"Admiral! The Gotango is moving forward and the Baddeck is heading our direction!" The Warrant Officer reported while he was looking out with a pair of binoculars.

"The Ensign did it. Okay, have our.." Admiral Fleetfoot was interrupted by the breaking of glass and the Warrant Officer falling to the ground dead.

"Sniper!" Fleetfoot yelled to the remaining personnel in the building. He reached for the intercoms and started ordering his men. "Snipers in the fields! Keep your heads down and locate their positions!"

A few minutes later the door opened and a Marine came in. "Admiral, sniper fire to the fields east and west of us, Baddeck is strafing the ground between us to clear them out. However the east is still unknown." He reported.

"Okay, send some armored transports to the west to sweep any surviving enemy personnel, then move to the east and use the trucks as cover to take out the other snipers." Fleetfoot ordered.

The Marine left and went to spread the word and gather troops to carry out the orders. Some snipers and support went to the east side of the FOB to try and clear some enemy operatives. The front was relatively quiet since the approaching force was being slammed by the Gotango's weapons.

"Sir, enemy mazer discharge, Baddecks been hit!" An officer reported.

"Is she still airborne!?"

"Yes sir! She's turning about to engage an enemy cruiser to the west!"

A moment later there was a flash of green light from straight ahead.

"Another enemy mazer discharge. This time the Gotango was hit. She is still airborne as well."

"Where'd that shot come from!?" Fleetfoot asked.

"East, sir. Gotango has disengaged the frontal assault and is now moving off to face the other cruiser!"

"That's two, where have they placed the third cruiser?" Fleetfoot asked of no one.

Washington Platform:

Communication Officer Corporal Brier, female, mid 20s and blonde hair, walked up to the commander of the platform, holding an electronic pad.

"Sir. We're having trouble communicating with ground personnel at the FOB near the US, Mexican border." She reported.

"What can you tell me Corporal Brier?" Lieutenant Colonel Eastwood asked.

"It's a similar circumstance as what the base at Coronado dealt with sir. I think we have another signal jammer in play again." She speculated.

"Have a detachment of squadrons move into the atmosphere and support the FOB. What visuals do we have of the area around the FOB?" He asked.

"The jammer is giving radar and regular camera visuals havoc, but thermals are picking up ground activity all around the base. All three enemy cruisers have been deployed in wide arcs to attack the base from three different sides. The rest of the Brethren are moving in a full frontal ground assault. Since we can't give them any information or communicate…" Brier started.

"Then they don't know about the ambush that's coming." Eastwood finished.

The Brethrens Third Cruiser:

"Are the jammers up and running?"

"Yes! The enemy doesn't have a clue that we're about to nuke them right off the planet! Not even the orbital platforms should be able to see us."

"All our forces know the plan, move in, draw out their forces, snipe anyone that appears to be trying to attempt visual communication, and then at 15:40 hours, pull back as fast as possible!"

"Tops says we're getting the other two cruisers away from the base!"

"Good! It won't be long now! Ahead half speed, it's almost time."

The Baddeck:

Turning on a dime, nearly 370, fooling the enemy ship into thinking they were turning and running, started to turn to chase the Baddeck. The Baddeck kept the turn up past the 180 mark, 200, 250. The enemy cruiser began to turn the opposite direction presenting the broadside of their ship. 280, 300, 360.

"Fire Mazer!" I ordered.

The Baddecks weapon impacted the side of the cruiser full force at close range, tearing a hole in it's engine compartment. The cruiser sputtered, then fell from the sky to belly-flop on the plains below. The top guns and cannons swiveled to target the Baddeck.

"Head for New Alamo! We'll leave them here to sweat it out." I ordered.

"Con, nest, Sir, the enemy ground forces, they've stopped in their tracks!" They reported.

"What!? What's happening!?" I asked.

Looking to the FOB, then to the enemy forces, they were stopped, and there were no weapons fire towards the base.

"No movement from New Alamo or the enemy. The Gotango is beyond visual range!" Came the report.

"North, east, west…" I pondered.

"What're you thinkin' Captain?" Shelly asked.

"We've seen something come from every direction but one. South. We're not prepared for anything coming from the south. Have the nest scan south, what do they see?"

The sailors scanned the lands to the south, everything from the FOB to the border was clear on the ground, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Make sure to scan the skies sailor!" Shelly suggested.

The Gotango:

"Captain, the enemy cruiser is pulling back even further! We can't catch them the way we're going now, and they're just outside full effective range of the mazer!" Michaels reported.

"Why are they running damn it!? Why won't they turn and fight!?" Captain Riker asked.

"Con, Nest, we've lost sight of New Alamo and the enemy forces!" They reported.

"What!? Come about! Head back to New Alamo right now!" Captain Riker ordered.

"We're just going to ignore the enemy cruiser!?" Michaels asked.

"If they wanted a fight, they would have kept shooting at us. Instead they're leading us further from the base. Also they had another cruiser draw away the Baddeck. The Brethren plan to attack a defenseless FOB!"

The Gotango began to make an arc in the sky and head back to the FOB.

Washington Platform:

"Sir. The FOB hasn't taken any direct attacks and is, from our viewpoint, unharmed. However the Gotango and the Baddeck cruisers have engaged the enemy forces and two of the enemy cruisers. The Baddeck has disabled one cruiser and the Gotango is currently chasing down another. However the third is slowly making its way to the FOB uncontested." Brier reported.

"And where are our squadrons now?" Eastwood asked.

"They should be entering Earth's atmosphere in 30 seconds, but they may be too late to reach the FOB in time." Brier answered.

"Hm, so it's all down to time. Either the Brethren reach the FOB, or our forces do."

"Sir, did anyone tell you what they're calling the FOB?" Brier asked.

"No, why?" Eastwood turned to her.

"The soldiers down below are calling it the 'New Alamo, sir." Brier explained.

"The last stand of the Alamo." He said.

New Alamo:

"Admiral, Baddeck has disabled the first cruiser and is returning, but they're about 15 mile out still. And the Gotango is almost completely out of view following the second cruiser." A Marine Corporal reported.

"What are the Brethren thinking?" Fleetfoot pondered.

"Sir, it appears as the forces to our front have stopped their charge and I can even clearly make out as several snipers are heading north to meet up with the enemy forces." The Corporal reported again.

"All they've done so far is take pot shots at us with snipers, and lead both our support cruisers away from the bat..!!" Fleetfoots' eyes went wide and he turned to a Marine next to the door. "Move all troops to the rear of the base now! They're going for a sneak attack at our rear!" He ordered.

The Baddeck:

"I want full speed back to New Alamo now!" I ordered.

"Sir!" The pilot called out. "The engines aren't responding! We only have about 75% power output and it's dropping!"

"What!?" I reached for the intercom. "Engine room, Con, what's the damage!?"

"Con, engine room, the shot from the enemy mazer didn't hit us at full strength, but it did rattle some bolts loose, and with those idiotic maneuvers from the pilot, the engines are threatening to fail!" Chief Engineer Scotts reported. "We have to slow down now otherwise we'll lose the engines right now!"

"Grrr! No! We need to get back to New Alamo otherwise it won't be there! It's completely undefended!"

"I'm sorry captain, but there's nothing we can do."

A loud clank and crash could be heard.

"Cut the engines now or we may very well explode!" Chief Scotts pleaded.

Nononono! I chastised myself internally. "Cut the engines! Cease all forward acceleration." I ordered.

"But.." Shelly began.

"Now Lieutenant!" I bellowed.

She turned, her face going sullen. "Cut engines. Cease forward acceleration." She echoed my words, and my feelings for the situation.

"We're dead in the water, we have to hope the Gotango can make it back in time." I said, the world outside seemed to expand beyond the horizon, the base getting further away from us.

The Gotango:

"Con, nest, third cruiser spotted south of New Alamo. They are completely uncontested and will be at the base in an estimated 5 minutes!"

"Sir, we're too far out! We won't make it in time!" Michaels reported. "We won't even be in weapons range for 7 minutes!"

"We'll have to trust the Baddeck can.." He was cut off by the comms.

"Con, nest, visuals on the Baddeck, she's spitting smoke and doesn't appear to be moving."

"What!? Engine room, Con, we need more speed!" Captain Riker ordered.

"Negative sir! We have 80% power output and I can't coax anymore out of her! She's threatening to shut down if we do!" The Chief Engineer reported.

"What do we do sir?" Michaels asked.

"I don't think we can do anything XO. All we can do is head back to base as fast as we're already going. New Alamo stands alone for the time being." Captain Riker replied.

The Brethren Cruiser:

"We have them all to ourselves!"

"They're completely defenseless!"

"Let's drop off their going away present! Activate the warhead!"

"Accelerate! Full speed!"

The Gotango:

"Con, nest, the third cruiser just picked up speed! Less than 1 minute to contact!"

"What!?" Captain Riker stated.

"She's gaining some altitude. The bottom bay doors are opening. They're going to drop a bomb!"

"No!" Captain Riker exclaimed.

The world stood still, the ground troops saw the shell of a warhead clear the bay of the enemy cruiser, heading straight for them. The Admiral was standing on a catwalk at the back of the building, watching as the scene unfolds. Both the Baddeck and Gotango were well beyond any help to the base now. The allied squadrons were still 2 minutes out, at top speeds. The Brethren forces had pulled back to just outside the blast radius and estimated fallout area.

Everything went white.


	14. Goodbye Earth

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 9: Goodbye Earth

/ word count: 2181

Washington Platform:

"Are you sure about this sir?" Corporal Brier asked.

"Yes Corporal, Earth is no longer a viable home for our collective species, and if the Brethren want to fight so bad for what's left on the ground, they're willing to nuke the few remaining people and waste possible resources, they can have it." Lieutenant Colonel Eastwood answered. "Move all remaining.., surviving.., personnel from the surface to their assigned orbital platforms. We're leaving Earth a little sooner than expected." He turned and walked towards his office. "And tell the squadrons down there to provide overwatch for all evacuating personnel."

"Yes sir." She answered, turning to relay the orders.

It was quiet on the command deck of the platform. Everyone was still in mild shock of the use of such a weapon just to make a statement. Now instead of fighting to the last man, if those still on the surface were crazy enough to destroy their only chance to leave the planet, then they don't need to come along with the rest of humanity. The Gotango, being slightly less damaged than the Baddeck, went to her sister ship and helped to provide support. It took a few hours, but both ships finally moved south of the border, to the last rally point, to gather all resources and personnel they could carry, and then head to their assigned platform or carrier. The squadrons never landed, staying within 20sq miles of the rally point, and then covering transports and cruisers to their destinations. The Brethren forces weren't seen again from the ground. Sensors and most visual options were still being interfered with by some form of jammer, but from what they could use, the forces were now all centralized in what remained of the state of Texas. It took another 5 hours to finally get all remaining resources and personnel loaded. What few prisoners that were being held, were given options to take this last chance to get off the planet or to go be with the remaining humans still on the surface. Some wished to rejoin their Brethren, some asked to make contact with certain individuals, which was not happening with the Brethrens jammers. So it was decided, those that remained would be given what they needed to survive and the rest would leave with the fleet.

The Baddeck:

Akiza III asked to remain with Shelly Carson, she didn't want to be with her father and his crazed friends if he's willing to kill so many for something that even she could see was foolish. The Baddeck was the last ship to lift off, a pair of squadron fighters circling overhead.

"Angel Flight to Baddeck, we're ready to get out of here." Pilots radioed down.

"Roger that Angel Flight, Baddeck ready to lift off in 30 seconds." Shelly answered. "Engage thrusters! Release moorin's! Lift off!" She ordered.

The Baddeck raised off the ground, in a few moments she was nearly 1000ft away from Earth and climbing. She would never set down on the surface of the planet again.

"Goodbye dad." Akiza said with tear filled eyes.

"Ensign Raven, you have the Con. Continue to our destination, and follow proper docking procedures." Shelly said, then walked with Akiza off the bridge.

"Aye ma'am." Raven acknowledged.

They walked to the officers lounge, finding me sitting back with a cup of untouched coffee between his fingers.

"Captain." Shelly said.

I looked up to find the two women entering, the girl, Akiza, was crying.

"Would you two like to be alone?" I asked.

"Please sir. I think we could use some time to ourselves." Shelly answered.

Sighing, I got up. "Alright, I'll be on the bridge if you need me for.."

"I'm sorry." Akizas' small voice said.

"Excuse me?" I turned and looked back.

"I..said, I'm sorry. I'm sorry all this had to happen. I'm sorry I helped to attack the base. I'm sorry if people you knew were killed because of my actions. I'm so.." Her voice was cut off by her head being pulled into my chest.

She didn't know what to think, she was responsible for so much death and destruction. How could he just.

"Quiet your thoughts little one." I said as she began to tremble. "Yes some bad things did happen, but I can't hold you responsible for any of it. You were just used by others. Used by your father. Used by the Brethren. You didn't want any of this. I saw your interrogation video, you genuinely weren't meaning to harm anyone. Just caught up in part of the evil of our world. An evil we're now leaving behind. So leave your thoughts on the matter behind as well, and I'm sorry about your father. We'll keep trying to get a hold of him before we get out of range of the planet, but if they won't remove their jammers.."

"It's okay, I don't think I can handle talking to my dad again."

"Ye' need to at least say ye'r goodbyes to each other." Shelly inserted.

"Yeah, I guess. But like he said, their jammers are blocking everything. So it's pointless to try to.." She was interrupted by the overhead.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander, please report to the bridge immediately!" Raven's voice sounded urgent.

Reaching the bridge we were pointed to a couple of monitors with a view of the planet below.

"The jammers just went offline two minutes ago. We only noticed when the Washington contacted us, and we intercepted communication traffic from the surface. Most of it was location to location on the planet, but a few were aimed up at the platforms.

A voice came over the speakers, "This is the Brethren Collective. We now claim ownership of this planet and all inhabitants on it. Any that are not with us may never return to her surface under pain of death."

Akizas' eyes widened as she listened to the words. "That's my father's voice. So he really is insane. How could he do that? How.."

"The Brethren claim all Earth based vessels and the souls therein as property of the Brethren. Return all that has been stolen to their rightful.."

A sudden scream over the speakers cut her off, then the speakers gave only static.

"Report!" I ordered.

"Visuals coming up sir. It's the goo sir. The entire continent of North America was just covered in it." Came the reply. "The Brethren outpost, it's been overrun."

"Dad!" Akiza couldn't hold back her emotions anymore. Crying her eyes out and falling over fully distraught.

"Carson take her to the lounge and stay with her!" I suggested.

Shelly moved and grabbed Akiza by the arms, they both left with Shelly pretty much carrying the girl.

Turning to the comms officer, "contact the Washington, tell them we're coming in." I ordered.

"Aye sir." She replied.

Washington Platform:

When we landed, medics and security were waiting to take anyone not registered to a holding area for debrief and to take down their information. Akiza was so distraught, Shelly had to literally carry her off the ship and stayed with her for the entire process. I didn't see them again till the next day. I was ordered to the command deck, Lieutenant Colonel Eastwood wanted to speak with every commanding officer onboard the Washington. There were nearly 30 different officers of the Navy and Marines in the meeting room, and it was a standing room only. Each platform was having their own version of these meetings, only the carriers and cruisers were withheld, because there should only be one commanding officer and maybe a liaison to represent others interests. The rest are all military personnel and none onboard those crafts were civilians. But while any vessel was docked onboard a platform, the platform's commanding officer would be considered in charge after any individual left the ramp of their prior vessel. The platform would need some semblance of order to make sure everyone was as comfortable and safe as possible. A select number of military personnel would be considered for and specially trained to be the security of each platform. All pilots would be tested to become part of the platform and carrier's fighter squadron compliments. And anyone else that was left would remain with their designated cruiser, carrier or command platform.

"Sir, what about the rumors of hypersleep?" One of the other officers asked. "If we could, shouldn't we let as many people as possible sleep our journey away. It would save on a numerous amount of resources and prolong just how long we may be out here."

"Our scientists are still working on it. They say they could have something by the time we reach Mars to pick up the colonists there." Eastwood answered. "But until there is a definitive answer, that information cannot leave this room! If the masses would find sleeping away their woes preferable, thinking they'll get to sleep soon, they could go stir crazy if they discover we can't provide.."

Nods across the room as most were in agreement.

"And might I add to that idea sir." Another officer interjected. "If possible, we should also move some of the military personnel to also be put to sleep if it becomes viable. Leave an operational skeleton crew awake and functional onboard every vessel with a rotation schedule for say, every few months or so. With an emergency measure in place if we're ever come under attack or if something should break down to wake any who are needed on a moment's notice."

That was something to be considered and out on the back burner for a future meeting.

"It is estimated that we won't be in the vicinity of Mars for at least four months, so I suggest we all need to hunker down and get comfortable. Dismissed!" Eastwood said when it was over.

Leaving the meeting room, I made my way to a view port with a visual of the planet below. The goo, having less and less land mass to cover, was now proceeding to what I could only guess to be Panama. It had covered Mexico in a matter of hours. I could only estimate South America to be engulfed in almost the same amount of time, maybe a day at most. It would seem that we had left just in time of being almost too late. From this height, I could see that there were black tendrils icking through the oceans below. Any water based species we couldn't take with us or any we had yet to discover, were now lost to us forever. We now have no choice but to look to the stars, and no matter how much we may want to believe we've made it, that we're going to survive, there is always going to be a nagging sensation at the back of our minds. We may have a large quantity of food and other resources, but we don't have an infinite amount. If we don't find somewhere else to truly live again, we will die out here in the vacuum of space. If the hypersleep idea does pan out, it could make it so we can survive a little longer. But there's another thought not considered in that meeting, babies. Someone, somewhere is going to do the deed, and there will be children running around, well, more than what is already onboard. And putting the children to sleep could be impossible depending on how young they are. More mouths to feed. I head back to the Generals office, I need to bring this concern to his attention, so he can pass it on to the rest of the overall commanders of the whole fleet. Sex is not an option, or at least, finding a way to make women unable to become pregnant until we have somewhere to live, and established a home.

"And what about the ones that just lost family sir? I know of two young women that just lost their only living family member this very day. One by bomb, and one by the goo." I added to the conversation.

"Our onboard psychiatrist's are going to be working overtime for this. The problem is there is no way to be paying them for their services."

"Pay!? We can't be promising any form of payment except that they'll have food to eat and water to drink. Money is flat out useless in our current circumstance. Not even gold or jewels. Every precious metal and stone that is useful, are being shaped and made ready for use in instruments and components of computer systems and weapons." I said.

"I am well aware of that Captain, I was merely stating that their jobs are going to be quite difficult for a few days or even weeks." Eastwood deadpanned.

"Oh, I see. Sorry sir, but I do know that at least those two young females I mentioned, will have a friend's shoulder to cry on. That ought to help the psychiatrist a little. It may be good to have any others that have friends to help with their emotions." I suggested.


	15. Mars

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 10: Mars

/ word count: 2139

Earth Fleet, about twenty days out from the red planet Mars, three and a half months from Earth. The fleet was functioning at 2/3 capacity, full crew complement for each ship, all remaining were passengers. Engines were at top speed without burning up completely. Air filtration was set to 70% and the plants were handling the remaining 30%. Ship to ship communication was preset to be ready at a moment's notice. General Gregory Marcellus was elected head of the entire fleet. There was some opposition, claiming to have lost more, so they should receive more. What was left of the United Nations voted against it, the ones that remained were renamed as the Earth Council, and would serve as the middleman between the new leadership and the remainder of humanity. Suggestions and ideas would come by the Council, then viable options would be brought to the command of the fleet and then it would be decided to implement or deny whatever idea made it that far. Anyone vying for more power than what was needed, would be put down immediately. Many were given the task of farming in small pockets to grow extra food and tend to all animals so that their numbers could be multiplied for future food resources. Some began to hide certain grains and equipment to begin creating moonshine and other alcoholic beverages. They had only gotten a few weeks worth of work done when the operation was found and shut down. Everyone involved was sentenced to the brig for the duration of the months that followed. The time passed slowly for many of the civilians and military personnel. The scientists labored daily to find a way for the hypothesised hyper sleep to work. The technicians worked just as long to make the chambers to hold the sleeping bodies. It would take a few days to charge a power source from just one of the Platforms main reactors. An emptied cargo container was used to house up to 50 medical bunk beds. Three of the containers can be powered by just one of the new, smaller power sources, and by not having the containers hardwired into the main reactors, if the platform's powers ever failed, the hypersleep containers would remain functional. Now the scientists needed just a little longer to get the right chemical process to put an individual to sleep safely.

"Man! How much longer till we get to Mars!?" Civilians questioned loudly.

"Aw shut up already!! We were told that it would take a few months to reach Mars, and we're almost there." Others answered.

"I hate all this waiting! I wanna stretch my legs damn it!" Was spoken aloud.

"Me too! When are we going to get there already!?" Another added.

The civilians were becoming restless, as cabin fever is starting to show itself. We were still about a week out from Mars, but the morale is beginning to wane. We'll need that hypersleep option soon, otherwise these people are going to riot from sheer boredom.

Mars:

The fleet moved into synchronise orbit over the colony, radioing down that they will be sending landing crafts to transport everyone, gear and resources onto the platforms above.

"Who are you and what are you doing here!?" Doctor Reinhart, lead scientists and head of the Mars expedition, questioned the voice on the other end of the communication. "This is the Mars colony station, 'Bowie Base One', and we are not expecting any visitors nor are we going to be leaving this planet!" She stated.

A man's voice came on and it's commanding presence was unmistakable.

"Doctor Reinhart, this is Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson Eastwood of the Earth Space Fleet, and we are here to gather yourself and all other colonists currently on Mars surface, along with all forms of resources you still have. Further information will be given to you once you and your team are onboard." He said.

"Eastwood? But you're supposed to be back on Earth! What is going on here!?" Reinhart asked.

Three Cruisers came down to the colony, the Baddeck, the Suffren, and the Adelaide, then a smaller transport detached from the bottom hull of the Baddeck. The colonists had some words of not wanting to leave, but the director ordered everyone to gather their personal belongings and to make all other items ready for departure.

"Are we just supposed to leave everything behind?" One of the colonists asked.

"We are supposed to take everybody, every resource, every test tube and every nut and bolt. We'll be here for a couple of days to completely tear down this entire compound, and store it onboard the platforms above. If there is anything you don't want lost, you have 12 hours to make sure it gets packed." I explained to the colonists. Then turned to Doctor Reinhart. "Doctor, we have the Harbinger ready to take you to the Washington for debrief and to be given all the information about what is going on."

"What can you tell me right now." She asked.

I looked down, then turned away. "Earth is gone, and we will never be going back. Further details will be told to you aboard the Washington."

Washington Platform:

"What happened!? Why are you all here and why am I being told that the Earth has just been abandoned!?" Doctor Reinhart shouted her questions.

"Doctor please, there's no need for all that shouting. If you would please sit down we can calmly get through thi.." Eastwood began.

"Don't give me that shit! The Earth isn't gone! It's right out there where it's supposed to be!?"

"It's gone." A young feminine voice stated.

"What!? Who do you think you ar..?" Reinhart stopped when she saw who it was she was addressing. "Agatha!?"

Agatha Fleetfoot was standing with a data pad, helping the Colonel with paper work.

"Hello Sharon. How have you been?"

"Agatha!? What? But..Earth..your grandfather.." Sharon was flabbergasted, mixed thoughts kept her from forming a coherent sentence.

"Is dead." Agatha answered.

"What!? How!?" Sharon asked.

"A group called themselves 'The Brethren Collective' dropped a nuke on the last base, 'New Alamo', on Earth. My grandfather was the commanding officer there." Agatha explained, a tear forming from the fresh memory resurfacing.

Sharon grabbed Agatha, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry." Sharon cradled Agatha in her arms, then turned back to the Colonel. "Okay, tell me exactly what happened. We've been out here for 18 months, left Earth just over 2 years ago, how could the planet have been destroyed in so little amount of time, and how come no communication was ever sent to us before now?"

The Colonel explained how the unknown 'goo' substance landed on Earth a little under two years ago, and how it literally spread across the entire planet, taking the oceans last. How in the final days, a radicalist group called 'The Brethren Collective' tried to commandeer all the remaining Earth's resources and even declared war on the rest of humanity. Admiral Fleetfoot was assigned the post at 'New Alamo' base and was there when the bomb hit.

"Okay, so where did this fleet come from? We didn't have it when we left for Mars 2 years ago." Sharon questioned.

"The fleet is literally less than 2 years old." Eastwood told her. "After the goo made landfall and we found in a very short amount of time, not even our most potent and deadliest weapons would affect it. It covered all of the continental Asia in just a few months."

"So you made ships to get out of there. That would still be one heck of a feet for the military to accomplish alone." Sharon noted.

"As soon as we knew we couldn't touch or stop the goo, we took control of every single tech company, construction company, every scientist, and every resource was grabbed up and then we made sure as many animals as we could bring with us were safe. The biggest problem was to bring what few sea creatures we could along with us."

Sharon's eyes went wide, "You brought oceanic lifeforms with you!?"

"Yes. There." Eastwood pointed to the largest ship in the entire fleet. It easily dwarfed any other ship here. "It's a super transport we named the 'Oceanica', on the reason that it literally is filled with sea water and marine life, save for a few we couldn't risk bringing in case a person or a mammal were to be killed and they'd go extinct forever."

"So what did you not bring with you?" Sharon asked.

"Sharks, and other large predatory life mostly. To feed them, we wouldn't have enough smaller fish to satisfy them on a daily nutrients need. So most of what's in that ship are harmless whales, dolphins, penguins, seals, and billions of smaller fish and crustaceous life. The whole of the ship, as is, is super self sufficient, massive air scrubbers, water filtration, with limited personnel to monitor the whole ship." Eastwood explained.

"And if an asteroid were to strike that ship?" Sharon asked.

"That ship has nearly 10ft of outer armor plating before a 30 foot mismatch of different damage resistant materials including kevlar, ceramics and ballistic jellies to keep anything inside safe. It is the most heavily armored ship in the entire fleet. However, it is also the ship with the least amount of armaments on it. As in none." Eastwood finished.

"And why's that?" Sharon questioned.

"Almost all of its available power is being used to maintain that ship. Less than 10% is being used by anything else, like hatches and living quarters. The ship doesn't even have an engine on it, it's being pulled by seven out of twelve tugs, which makes her the second slowest in the fleet." Eastwood explained.

"What's the slowest?" Agatha asked

"The platforms are the slowest actually. If we went full speed and raced the Oceanica, the Oceanica would win."

During the rest of the meeting, they worked out what colonists should go to which ship, for ethnic background or family reasons, and their resources were added to the stock of the rest of the fleet. Afterwards, Sharon and Agatha walked, heading for one of the greenhouses, and talked about all that happened.

"A greenhouse." Sharon noted.

"Yeah, each ship has at least one, the bigger the ship, the bigger the greenhouse, though the platforms need about three to help the air scrubbers. My schematics of the Oceanica says the whole of the ship could be considered one huge greenhouse." Agatha showed her on the data pad.

"Earth did this in just 2 years? I can't believe it." Sharon stated "Wait, how many people made it off the planet? How many different nations or ethnic backgrounds are out here now?" Sharon asked quickly.

"We lost nearly all of the African nations, most just didn't want to believe something was coming to kill them, others too small to get word to in time. We still have people of African descent, but they are now once again the minority of the human race, and not just for skin color this time. Russia, and Egypt have their own platform, the Chinese and the UK, what's left of them, is sharing their platforms with all the remaining respective countries from their ends of the continent, then there are the American platforms, 3 of them, the South American platform is a jumble of all the hispanic speaking cultures, but a few of them we're needed to be moved to other platforms, carrier's and cruisers. The Australian platform has a good number of their own animal species onboard, but with the smallest human count, though only by a couple thousand. Germany tried to make their own platform but the world governments forbade them that luxury." Agatha noted.

"Huh, guess that's why they moved my colonists to different ships." Sharon said. "So how many survived in total?"

"About 2.3 billion humans remain. The loss of most of the Asians and Africans took about half the world's population almost overnight. But since the goo started it's spread there, they lost more citizenry than anyone else, That's why there are more Americans than anyone else." Agatha explained. "Some people refused to leave their homes or too elderly to make the trip, anyone that stayed was given the option to be drugged or to just wait for the goo, most chose to live the last of their days free of anything. The world government even offered to let them go anywhere in the world they wished as a final request." Agatha finished, a tear in her eye.

Sharon and Agatha sat down somewhere quiet together, shared a few tears, and talked about the lives they lead before they left the planet, about lost loved ones and what they could try to plan for the future.


	16. Bowie Base One

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 10.1: Bowie Base One

/ word count: 1260

*Suggestive Material*

The Mars Lander landed on the surface of the red planet some months ago. Six of the three dozen crew were the only ones currently awake for the first stage of procedure. The crew had slept about 3 months in a early prototype of a deep sleep chamber, and it allowed them to make the trip without using any of their precious few resources.

The flight crew began the process of waking up some of the crew to begin building the first of the buildings complex. The sleep quarters and meal hall was the first building completed. Then the rest of the crew were awakened and all the food and personal items were unloaded then everyone set about claiming their bunks and setting up their home for the next year and a half. It took them all of the next week to build up nearly all the rest of the buildings with the latest lightweight, yet durable materials. Science, ecological, security, water purification, archeology, communication and walkways between each building. All seals are double checked and then the whole complex is pressurized with pure oxygen. Once the greenhouse is set to grow plants and food, there are canisters of carbon dioxide to be set for a slow leak to feed the plants their desired air. Then in turn, as the plants grow and produce food for the colonists to eat with, they will also be providing oxygen for them to breathe. As the canisters would run dry of their load of carbon dioxide, the bad air from the rest of the colony would be vented straight into the ecological wing, feeding it directly to the plants, and as long as everything works correctly, it could potentially extend the stay of the colony and even set up where future colonists may come to the red planet.

Mars Heads of Department:

"Okay people, calm it down." Doctor Sharon Reinhart, Lead Scientists and Director of Operations of the entire colony, called to order.

"This is the first meeting of the six head of departments for Bowie Base One." She said.

"Hey Doc, let's take a break for a week and then get to work huh?" Head Ecologist Harold Jacobsons said jokingly. "I know something everyone can do to get really rela…"

"Keep it in your pants Harold!" Head Archeologist Crystal Anderson said. "We aren't here for your personal sex fest you kept talking about back on Earth. This is a serious expedition on the first colony of Mars!"

Harold eyed her with a bit of mischievousness. Someone reached over and smacked Harold across the back of his head and made him do a double take.

Chief Security Officer Michelle Anderson, elder sister to Crystal, gave him a look that if it could kill… "Touch my sister and you'll regret it asshole!!" She threatened.

"Heh." Crystal laughed a little at her big sisters over protective nature.

"Humph!!" Harold crossed his arms and sat back.

"Okay, okay, can we get back on point here people!?" Reinhart asked.

When no one brought up anymore subjects or idiotic ideas, she continued. "We have just started the first colony of Mars, and it is up to all of us to make sure it does succeed. Harold, we don't have the luxury of playing around and getting someone pregnant! So all personnel are being issued a warning, mainly against you, to remain clean for the duration of this mission. If you have a problem with this directive, I'm sure Michelle won't mind some daily company in her small holding cell." Reinhart threatened.

Michelle grins devilishly while staring daggers at Harold.

"Fine, I'll behave myself. Geez." He relented.

"Alright then, with the topic of sex out of the way, we need to decide where our first dig site will be and building the satellite dish for communication to Earth, via the relay hub in synchronise orbit over our base camp." Reinhart said.

"I'll supervise the satellite dish build, since I'm the only one who knows how the damn thing works." Head Communication Expert Avery Wilson said.

"Fine Avery, use whoever you need to complete it. Now Crystal, how many people would you like to put on the first expedition?" Reinhart asked.

"Ten, little less than 1/3 our numbers, but I want to set up the base ground work before the end of the day, after that, besides myself and my 4 crew, it will be a volunteer based affair. Basically a change of pace or scenery for whoever wants it." Crystal said.

"And I'm thinking sector grid alpha 2 for the first location." She said looking at the holo map in front of them. "The terrain is a bit rougher in this area on the surface than anywhere else, so doing the rough patch first and hopefully it'll be easy sailing from here, and it's also the closest at half a kilometer, so nobody will complain about the jaunt out for the first dig." She joked.

"If there's nothing else?" Reinhart waited.

"I'll help wherever I can, my department and myself that is, our overall workload won't come in until about a month in is complete and then we'll be having a time to be cleaning the water we'll need to survive." Head of Water Conservation Aqua Maria said.

"Alright everyone, go to your departments, take care of your work stations, and then whoever Crystal and Avery calls upon, go help with those two assignments. We've got four years ahead of us so let's get to work." She said, the whole room standing and filing out.

Avery and Reinhart were last out but Avery grabbed Reinharts' hand and pulled her back into the conference room, shutting the door. He pushed her against an outer wall so no one would see them kissing as his hands grabbed at every inch of her body. She pulled him just as close and wasn't letting go for when she did, it will be the last time they'll have this chance for a long time. They couldn't go all the way, but they went as far as they dared. For several minutes their lips barely parted letting in small gasps of breath. Their uniforms were partially undone and Reinharts hair was in shambles from the tight pun she's known for. Finally they separated from each other's embrace and began putting themselves back together.

"Man I wish you didn't have to enact that rule because of Harold." Avery said. "Why'd he even have to come anyways!?"

"Because he's the best damn ecologist we had at the space department on Earth and he was highly recommended by no less than two dozen other experts. He wasn't my first choice, I assure you, but the three prior people were either engaged in other affairs or contracted a disease we couldn't bring with us when we went into isolation to prepare for the trip." Sharon explained.

"That's means we haven't had sex for over a year and a half." Avery pointed out.

"Don't remind me. But we have to remain strong for everyone else's sake. If I or any other heads are seen breaking the rules, then we're bound to fail this mission." Sharon groaned. "And I'd prefer that to not be our legacy."

Unfortunately, the colonists barely got to get their boots dirty, so to speak, from all this. Twelve months after they had arrived and put everything together, the Earth Survival Space Fleet showed up and plucked them, their research, and their compound, right off the surface of Mars, leaving their home solar system behind forever.


	17. Leaving the Solar System

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 11: Leaving the Solar System

/ word count: 2070

The colonists of Mars weren't happy about leaving their cherished work of being the first colonists of Mars, but there was no going back, and no way they could stay on the red planet without resources from home. The remainder of the human race, and all the animals that could be safely transported, are now going to head out among the stars in search of a new home. It has taken us nearly five months just to reach the edge of the solar system from Mars. A lack of readily available star drive or light speed engines is going to make this a really slow trip. Thanks to the deep sleep chambers the Mars expedition used, a prototype of the Hypersleep containers was in functional condition within a month's time, about 2/3 of the survivors had chosen to enter hypersleep by the time we reached Pluto's orbit. All ships are now being run and maintained by two to three shifts of skeleton crews, depending on the size of the ship. A rotation schedule was set in place for people to get on and off the Oceanica, for a change of scenery and makeshift beach vacation.

The Baddeck:

"Hey Captain!" A sing song southern bells voice called out.

"Yes Lieutenant Commander, what is it?" I asked.

Shelly walked up holding a couple cups of coffee in her hands.

"How about a pick me up just before bed?" She asked with a sly look in her eyes.

I sighed. "Come on Carson, you know I don't drink coffee this late in the day. It's almost time for my shift to end." I stated.

She gave an exaggerated look. "How much does a lady have to show ya' interest before ya' get a hint?" She asked.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but a woman showing me interest isn't the problem, it's rare in fact, but it isn't a problem. It's a woman who gives off the vibe that she's too ready to have sex at the drop of a hat with anyone or anything no matter the consequences." I explained.

She looked at me with no small amount of rage. "Ya' think that I'm just some dumb slut that will spread my legs for just anyone!?" Her words were quiet, almost a whisper. "Ya' think I'm so shallow that I'd take the first thin' I see and just take it into myself!?" Her body began to shake and she had to put the cups down before she dropped them.

"What I think is irrelevant, but ever since I first met you, you've done nothing but make other people your playthings. Going so far as to use your body as a simple tool to gain something you want. You may be a nice catch to the eye, but you just don't give off the right kind of feelings." I looked her in the eye without any emotion. "So I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to get in my bed."

Shelly stopped talking, almost stopped breathing, her eyes were unfocused and distant.

"I..I.." She stammered.

"Head to bed Carson. That's an order." I ordered.

Shelly's eyes began to focus a bit, gritting her teeth. She grabbed the coffee cups, turned, and threw them into a trash bin, letting the liquid slosh and splash onto the floor. She stomped her feet on her way off the bridge.

I watched her go, then sighed. "What a waste of coffee. She could have just left it to the next shift."

Turning back to the view screen of the star field outside, I wondered if I may have just gone a bit too far. From the corner of my vision, I watched some of the other officers give me strange looks and were whispering to themselves.

Sighing again, I stood and turned to leave. "Ensign Raven, you have the Con. I'm turning in early. When the next shift arrives, have them check in with the Washington about any course corrections we need to make."

"Aye..sir." Came the hesitant reply.

She's a good officer, she may even gain a command of her own one day.

Yawning, and stepping back to the captain's cabin, I noticed the door was cracked open a bit. Since there weren't that many people awake, or not in hypersleep, right now, then the only individual that would be in my cabin is.., I opened the door. "Hello Shelly."

She turned to me with tears in her eyes, then looked down again. "Hi Captain."

"Is this another attempt to get me to take you to bed, because that's really getting old." I said.

"No, there's no point in tryin' to do anythin' like that. I know ye'r just not into a person like me. So I guess, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for how I been actin'." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "And that.. I'm not goin' to be a bother to ya' after today. I..respectively ask for a transfer to the Washington. There, I'll ask to be put into a military personnel hypersleep container so I won't bother y'all for awhile."

"Request denied." I deadpanned.

She looked at me with more surprise in her eyes than I thought possible. Her face seemed to contort with hate and despair at what I just told her.

"But..why!? Don't ya' want me gone!? Don't ya' want me to just leave ya' alone!? Why would ya' want to keep me around!?" She got up, shoving me against the door and beating against my chest weakly. "What's wrong with ya'!? What's wrong with me!? Why am I always like this!? Why can't I just do thin's right!? Why…!!!" Her words were cut off

Her eyes wide with shock and surprise because even she couldn't understand why I was kissing her. I held her close, wrapping my arms protectively around her shoulders, and keeping her from pulling away, my lips were pressed firmly against hers. She resisted for just a moment, then her body just couldn't fight nor move in how she desired. I wouldn't stop the kiss for several moments, eventually her lips parted and we really let the passion flow.

When we finally parted, she was breathing heavily against my chest, my head was resting on top of hers.

"Why?" She said with a shaky voice. "Why would ya' do this now? I thought ya' didn't like me that way." She questioned.

"It's not whether I liked you or not, hell I may have even hated you for a time." I answered.

"Then why!?" She pushed back and looked me in the eye.

"It's because you try too hard. Something about it just turns me off for some reason." I explained. "And you cannot fathom just how much I've wanted to hold your body against mine."

The look she gave me was filled with questions.

"There were times, I wished I was a shallow man, to just snatch you up and hide you in a hole and keep you all to myself. A little plaything to do all manner of things to." I punctuated my point by letting my hand slide down her back and suddenly pulling her body against me, chest to chest.

She looked at me with wonder and amusement on her face. "So, ya' just wanted me all to ye'rself?" She asked playfully.

"Any man that would have been lucky enough to get your attention would want you all to themselves. I just couldn't let myself go like that. Because if I did, I wouldn't be the man I am today and I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror." Then I looked away from her, loosening my hold. "And, as an individual who has to keep not only myself in check, but the rest of my crew and help the remainder of our species together as a whole, I have to restrain myself from any such pleasures."

"What? But why?" She questioned.

"We are without a home, without the abundant replenishing resources of a planet. If people can't keep themselves in check, we'd have a massacre long before we ever reach a potential new home!"

She looked at me questioningly.

"Even you should be able to see the problem," I stepped back and gestured, "if even 1/4 of the remaining populace were to get pregnant, and started having 'space babies' before we have access to an abundance of renewable resources. We'd run out of food, water, and many other things before the children reach their fifth year of age. We'd have to start doing the unthinkable and killing people, or even worse, the children just to survive."

There was a thoughtful look on her face, and the dawning realization of just what I was getting at. "We may have as well not even bothered with puttin' anyone in hypersleep."

"Exactly. Doctors and scientists are working on a way to reduce the chances of anyone getting pregnant, maybe even being able to shut down the reproductive facilities of the body, but even if they should succeed, that shouldn't be an open invitation for an all out orgy marathon, or sex fest."

Back in the crews quarters, Lee and Jackson were sleeping in the same bunk together. They've been doing this ever since their feelings were confessed and that Lee's parents had already approved their relationship. "Make grandbabies!!" Was all the mother ever said as a conversation starter.

I had to put a stop to that talk, informing my two tech engineers and my two medical staff that the subject of children making was not allowed onboard the Baddeck, and after a bit of deliberation, the father saw reason but the mother wouldn't drop it. Moms.

Washington Platform:

Lieutenant Colonel Eastwood sat in his office, nearly a month since any real paperwork was brought to his attention, when anything had been brought to his attention really. Their destination was still unclear, and the few that remainded awake were beginning to regret it.

"Sir?"

Corporal Brier brought him out of his thoughts.

"Yes Corporal, what is it?"

"I'm just curious sir, why did you and some of the other senior officers choose to not enter hypersleep?" She asked.

He sighed and then sat back in his chair. "Because Corporal..Brier," his tone went soft, "we who are elderly, don't need to sleep away what little lives we have left in an endless dream of a world we can never wake to again. The younger generation, yourself and most of the rest that have entered hypersleep, you're our future. If the elders pass away on this voyage, all we need to do is pass on our knowledge in videos and books. To share our life experiences so the younger generation can have a chance for a future. Let the elders run things for a while, we'll take our shifts in sleep, but we won't stay asleep as long as the rest."

"But sir.."

He held up a hand to stop her before she could start.

"I won't make you enter hypersleep before your shift is up, this time!" He kept his hand raised to not let her speak. "However, if you continue to persist the subject, I may order your sleep cycle to be extended."

She opened her mouth to protest, then shut it quickly thinking better of it. She didn't know what to think or say about it at this time anyways.

"Now Corporal, is there anything that needs my attention as of this moment?" Eastwood asked.

She stammered, then looked down to her data pad. "No sir, there's only a small discrepancy in the rotation of the Oceanica, but nothing that a volunteer couldn't fix." She answered.

He straightened up, then stood and walked around his desk. "In that case, I'm hungry. What set of rations have been set out for today?"

She scrolled her screen to another menu and searched the information. "Um, it looks like spaghetti and meatballs sir."

"Hm, not bad overall. I'd prefer something more lasagna than that right now but.."

"I could have one of the requisition officers to get you some."

"No, no, it's fine Brier. We have to be careful with what we eat and how much anyways. If you don't have anything else to do, care to join me?" He invited.

"Uh, yes sir. I'm free for a little while."

"Good! I hate eating alone."


	18. Lightspeed & Death

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 12: Lightspeed Death

/ word count: 1818

As the fleet silently slipped through the empty expanse of dark space between the terran solar system and the closest Kepler telescope identified planets, the few individuals currently awake began to feel a bit restless. There have been several rotations of hypersleep containers, and a large majority of them being scientists, engineers, and basic maintenance personnel. The few military personnel that are currently awake, were getting ready for their turn to go into hypersleep, rotate through the Oceanica, and generally just making sure all craft are still on course. Most civilians that entered hypersleep, signed paperwork that said they would remain asleep for as long as possible without causing any permanent damage. So every civilian was put on a rotation schedule of four months sleep and no less than one month awake, to let their bodies adjust slowly and be able to go back to sleep easier. Unfortunately, there were a few complications. The few elderly that survived, then went into hypersleep with the last batch. Each was asked to sit and record their life stories and experiences. To make new video wills incase of the worst outcome. It was supposed to be merely a precaution, but in the case of about 3,000 of them, it would be the last words they ever spoke. That wasn't even the worst part, most of their surviving family members were on different rotations, only a few had family scheduled to be woken up next. After the autopsies, and subsequent storage of the most important and potentially life saving body parts and fluids, the bodies were put into a storage room with the cold and vacuum of space to preserve them until their families get to say their final goodbyes. Along with the elderly that have passed away, a few malfunctions have caused other people to also perish while asleep. An entire container lost power for a day and all souls inside were lost. Other individual units malfunctioned as well, but some of them may be able to be saved. One such unit was inside one of the military containers, and the individual was someone no one was ready to lose.

Washington Platform:

Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson Eastwood was dying. Because of the malfunctioned unit and subsequent medical procedures, it wasn't anything that could be done to save his life. Corporal Brier stayed by his side throughout his entire ordeal.

"Corporal, don't you have other duties to be," a cough cuts his words off, "other duties to be performing?" He asked.

"My duty right now is to take care of you sir." She answered. "All medic personnel are busy or there are just not enough of them awake right now to monitor your condition constantly."

He groans and rolls his eyes, turning his head to look away from her.

"Corporal.." he began.

"Brier. Please just call me Brier." She said in a calm manner.

He coughed. "Brier, I want to be alone right now. I don't want to be disturbed."

"I'm sorry sir, but doctor's orders, which outranks your own." She slips her hand around his and gets his attention. "And I'm not talking about any doctor currently onboard sir."

He knew what she meant, his eyes began to tear up as his hand clasped hers tighter. His deceased wife of 37 years, Doctor Clarice Eastwood, died just before the goo made landfall. She never got to see how the world ended, and he was thankful for that. Corporal Brier was in his company back then, but only after his wife's death did she become his personal secretary.

"You spoke with Clarice?" He asked with a withered breath.

"Yes sir. I had some hard times back when I was with other Marine regimens, and she was my councilor or consort, of sorts. We became good friends and just before she died, asked me to watch your back." She explained.

"How did you come to know her." He asked.

"It was about four years ago, I was sitting in the chow hall and she was doing one of her weekly visits to your office. The men of my team were really getting to me by doing something rather unfriendly with my personal belongings at the time. I guess it was after she was done visiting you that she found me eating and I guess it was my demeanor or it was her 'woman's intuition' that she came over and asked me how I was doing. We talked then and about once a week after that, she helped me find ways to deal with my problems and we became friends." She explained.

"Is that when you beat up three of my men and we're put in the brig for striking an officer?" He asked.

"About the same time. It was my first time proving to myself and them, that I wasn't as weak as they supposed. She visited me while I was in my cell as well." She said.

"You became a hard ass is what you did, and it's why I was surprised when you volunteered to be my secretary after..she passed away. You had a bright future if you'd have stayed in the field." He noted.

"I said 'I'd watch your back,' and I couldn't do it if I was half a world away from you on missions." She laughed a little. "She sort of became my surrogate mother. And by that extension, you became a surrogate father figure to me sir." Her eyes teared up. "And I'm not leaving you for any reason."

Eastwood sat back and sighed, one thing he and his wife were never able to do was to have children. He was sterile. "So this is what holding a child's hand feels like."

Two years ago:

Before the fleet ever made it to the outer edges of the solar system. Scientists and engineers worked tirelessly to figure out some form of faster than light engines.

"The ships are running on engines and power supplies that will last for an estimated 300 years with constant usage, but that is only about half the distance to our current destination." One of the scientists said.

"So we need a more viable engine, the only thing is, we have to be able to use the current engines and the current speeds we are going to create these new engines." An engineer added. "If we slow down, even a little, to work on or replace the current engines we have, it could add years to our travel."

Looks and nods around the meeting room shared this sentiment.

"Alright, during each rotation of scientists and engineers, we have to make sure we are making extremely detailed notes. So the next group doesn't have to ask very many questions and we don't have to be awake for very long to hold anyone else's hand." The head scientists said. "Every quirk, good or bad, every tweak, every time we add or remove something, it gets written down! Leave nothing to chance! If we here and now can't think of something, or we missed something, someone else may very well find it. And if it comes to light, that anyone, and I mean anyone, awake or asleep, is found to have hidden any notes, will not be participating in any more of the research and development of the new engines! They might even find themselves in a cell of one version or another when awake and asleep!!" The lead scientist threatened.

Present day:

The process was slow, painfully slow, and it took two years of rotations to accomplish a feat no one on Earth had done. Every ship's engine was retrofit with new components, and new crystals that multiplied their power output by thousands. Every ship, especially the Oceanica, was considered to be in danger of severe inertia. Thankfully, one of the scientists thought of this possibility and worked to create powerful inertia dampers. With these new reworked engines, the Oceanica was now the slowest ship in the fleet, but that wasn't really a problem to be concerned about. It's overall speed was only 0.003% slower than a platforms, a margin that can be overcome. Now the time to reach the new planet has been cut down to only a few years, so the rotation schedule is still in effect.

The Baddeck:

The new speeds made the stars outside the view screen look like streaks of light. However, if anyone stared at it for long, they'd get a headache for trying to follow each of the individual lights. So looking at it was limited to only for a few minutes at a time, and only from the main viewer. The cruiser's current crew complement were the first few skeleton crew that have been with the Baddeck ever since Canada, except for Michaels. The Executive Officer, who stood beside the Captain's chair, had her arm draped over the Captains shoulder. After the little argument that they had almost two years ago, and that was heard by all that was present at the time, some of the crew were quite surprised to find out that those two had become a couple.

"I don't get how those two hooked up." Crewmen were whispering to each other. "And on top of the Captain and XOs relationship, I heard that the two technicians that became a couple broke regs and went and got pregnant!"

"No way! But isn't it dangerous for anyone that's pregnant to enter hypersleep!?"

"Yeah. So she's been awake for nearly 3 months, and her husband has refused to enter hypersleep without her. And boy did the Captain give them an earful for doing that. Heck, I'm surprised they were able to wait this long before they broke down."

"Not only that, but I heard that Lee's Mom also refuses to sleep until the baby is born. 'I won't sleep until I know my grandchild is born and healthy!', she said."

The talk and gossip were somewhat keeping the crew's morale up a bit, and the Baddeck wasn't the only ship experiencing this particular problem. Reports of about two dozen women have gotten themselves pregnant. One of them being in her final trimester and the baby would be born before we'll even reach the first planet. Besides these recent developments though, most people did manage to keep their hands to themselves for two years, scientists had to work tirelessly to temporarily sterilize both men and women. Along with a way to re-fertilize everyone so that further children can be born when we are good and established in our new home.

A few dozen light-years ago:

When the entire fleet activated their new collective lightspeed engines, with a resulting wake of residual energy left behind, a small shimmer of light was seemingly hanging there, in that exact spot, alone. The little shimmer slowly began moving in the same direction as the fleet, then it started picking up speed.


	19. Failure & Surprise pt1

/ Duel Universe

/ Author: The Cowboy of Oklahoma

/ Ch 13: Failure Surprise pt1

/ word count: 2033

Washington Platform:

There was a mass funeral, the body count rose as we neared the first planet. Every person that did not survive their hypersleep or could not handle being asleep for so long, all perished. Now we've lost over 500 elderly, men, women and children, including VIP military personnel. We laid the bodies in hangers that pointed towards the current star we we're now closest to. Family and friends were allowed to walk amongst them and pay last respects. At the front of the groups lay the dozen or so military personnel, and just in front of them, on a short, makeshift pedestal, lay Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson Eastwood. It was discussed by a committee of scientists, that since we do not know the exact composition of the new planet, we cannot bury our dead their. Some protested, infuriated that they could not keep the bodies near until the time of such a discovery was made. It was agreed that a funeral, such the likes Earthlings have never done before, every body would be dealt with at the exact same time. No single body would remain to be tested on or mutilated in some cannibalistic way. So every ship with their dead, we're now in stationary orbit around the new solar systems sun, when the signal was given, all of the deceased will be released to space and given over to the gravity of the new star.

Kepler 438b:

Only a handful of individuals were chosen to go down to the surface. One Carrier, a couple Cruisers, and six Transport crafts, all with their full complement of personnel. Anyone that was pregnant, elderly, or with a newborn, were asked to remain behind. So Jackson was told to report to the Washington with her new in-laws. Lee requested to remain with his family, but I told him I needed my best tech to go with us.

"All ships, this is the Enterprise, get ready for descent." Came the call over the comms.

The order was given to make sure all compartments were secure and ready for re-entry. Orbital cameras couldn't detect signs of life, which is odd. Visuals on what appeared to be water in certain locations were confirmed. The order was given, and the descent wasn't long, and the atmosphere may be a bit thinner than Earth's, so it wasn't very rough. The ships hovered roughly two miles from the surface, the new engines, really any engine in this atmosphere, started having adverse effects.

The platforms above radioed down, "All ships, fallback! Fallback!! The engines and exhaust is going to destroy what little ecosystem may be on that planet!"

So we had no choice but to leave the first planet, as it was unsuitable for us to even try to remain. So we went back to the fleet and had to discuss on which direction we would go from here.

Just on the outskirts of the Kepler system, a small ball of light came zipping into the system, around a planet and in view of the red sun. It made its way silently through the expanse, zeroing in on the human fleet. A decent sized rock drifted in front of the small ball, it shifted a little one way, then the other. It then seemed to grow a little brighter, then just as it was to strike the surface of the rock, it shot a beam of energy straight ahead and the rock shattered into millions of pieces. The small ball shot through the newly made empty space and kept heading for the Earth fleet.

Washington Platform:

"Well what the hell do we do now!?" The newly appointed head of the platform, Major Bensen asked. "This was our only chance at.."

"Not..our only chance, Major. Kepler 438b was just the closest option and technically, if we hadn't of been able to develop the new engines, we would still be out in dark space floating in this direction." Doctor Malone stated.

"Not our only chance!? Woman, do you realize just how far it is and how long it will take us to reach the next potentially suitable planet!?" He questioned.

"1200 light-years Major, and I would suggest you refrain from using my gender in such a demeaning tone." She threatened. "You may refer to me as Head Doctor of the.."

"Shut your damn pie hole woman!!" He interrupted.

A few fists clenched under the tables surface, a sexist was not a welcomed change to the command structure.

The voice of General Marcellus, over the collective communication with the fleet, chimed in.

"Major Steve Bensen!! Speak like that to the good Doctor one more time, and I will personally see to it you're removed from command and given latrine duty everytime you're awakened from hypersleep, do I make myself clear PRIVATE!?!" He warned.

"...Aye sir." Bensen slouched in his chair.

"Now, as I was saying," Malone started, "there are a number of planets we could just barely make out from Earth and the Kepler Satellite mission. However that is not the only means we have to search for planets now."

All eyes and ears turned her way.

"Just as we were able to develop the new engines and are now capable of traveling beyond lightspeeds, we didn't stop creating or searching for new things. I pushed my science teams to think radically and come up with theories we never were able to test on Earth."

"What sort of theories?" Marcellus asked.

"For starters, point-to-point travel. Meaning we could open a hole in space here and pop out at a different location near instantaneously." Malone explained. "However, that theory requires more resources than we currently have available to even begin testing, so it has been shelved for now."

"Anything else we can use right now?" Bensen asked mockingly

"Sort of." She answered.

"Sort of!? What kind of an answer is that!?" Bensen questioned.

Eyes looked to the Major, soon to be private, and he turned away from everyone's gaze.

"What theories we can test now are somewhat dangerous. One in particular needs a ship to be moving at her top speed to be able to even activate the necessary components. It would actually give us a huge boost in overall speeds, but seeing as it is untested, it could completely destroy whatever vessel that tries it."

"Doctor." I moved to speak. "Not meaning to change the subject here, but something has been bothering me."

"Yes Captain Freeman?" She acknowledged.

"How did you create the new engine components and crystals we are now able to enjoy these new found speeds with? I'm aware of much of the materials we brought with us, but I don't recall giant crystals in that list." I pointed out.

"Well we actually used some crystals we brought with us as the base, however, as you said, none of them were that big, nor were they that numerous. We've discovered that the same energies used to combat the goo, is able to be harnessed and used for other purposes." She explained.

Eyes around the room went wide with shock, even everyone on the comm links never spoke until the next question was posed.

"You mean to tell me that we had access to another energy source this entire time!?" Bensen asked. "And it is able to be applied to pretty much anything else besides fighting!?"

"Essentially, yes. And in that regard, we have also learned, the harder you duel, the more energy gets produced. So we will need to start creating a new routine to be added to everyone's schedules. In order to generate all the energy to run major systems, engines, life support, artificial gravity generators, and so on, we'll no longer need to pull on the nuclear crystals we brought from Earth. And those crystals can be used to run minor systems. Water regulators, air conditioning, and so forth. That way we will be splitting up energy resource responsibility and not one source to run all things."

What happened next, was not a fun experience, as it quite literally rocked the entire platform, pitching it a few degrees, causing every individual currently standing to fall over. There was an alarm klaxon going off in the main command area and in the affected areas of the ship.

"All hands!! We have a hull breach on deck 13,14,and 15, port side!! I repeat, a hull breach has occured!! Emergency personnel head to decks 13, 14, and 15 immediately!!" The announcement rang out.

"Washington!! What in the world was that!!" General Marcellus asked.

"Unknown sir!" Bensen responded. "I'll check it out and report back! Everyone, return to your respective ships and fighter crafts!! We could be under attack!!" He ran to the command deck just down the hall. "Report!"

"Something came out of nowhere and struck our portside with enough force to roll the ship sir!" A soldier furiously typing across his keyboard answered.

"I know that much already soldier!! I meant, tell me something I don't know!!"

"The object came from beyond this solar system and struck us sir." A sailor offered up. "I was standing looking out a portside window when I saw it coming in, but before I could even yell out, it hit us and threw everything into chaos."

"Teams are moving in, the object or whatever struck a non-essential section of the ship, minimal damage to one ship systems. So far no casualties reported." Sergeant Brier, newly minted in rank, the last act of the previous commander of the Washington, reported after she got to her station.

"I want eyes on now!" Bensen ordered.

Helmet cams filled the view screen, as soldiers and sailors moved to patch the holes and check any electronic systems in the area.

"Patch this through to the rest of the fleet! General, everyone, eyes are up, sending visuals now!"

"External crews are making their way to the holes to begin repairs from outside." Brier added.

"Who's in charge at the incident location?" Bensen asked over the radio.

"Sergeant Major Ackles sir, there seemed to be no decompression of the affected areas. It's almost like whatever hit us, also sealed the holes behind it. Repairs are already underway." He reported.

"Did you find whatever did hit us Sergeant Major?" Bensen asked.

"Negative sir. There was a hole, indention in the deck plating where something impacted it, but an empty crater." The camera panned down to show exactly what he was talking about.

"Nothing's there!?" Doctor Malone questioned over the comms. "Do a spectral analysis, and filter through everything while scanning the whole area!" She suggested.

Bensen gritted his teeth for not being allowed to tell her to be quiet while he ran this ship.

"Women should stick with where they belong!" He said to himself.

"This is the Baddeck, we're off the platform and heading to provide overwatch of the damaged section!" Came over the comms.

"Acknowledged Baddeck." Brier responded. "All other cruisers and fighters keep your distance from the Washington until the situation is under control!"

The Baddeck:

"Maneuvering thrusters only. I want us broadside starboard to the Washington." I ordered.

"Aye sir." Executive Officer Carson responded, turning to relay my orders.

I got a good view of her uniformed back side. "Lordy that's a fine ass." I said to myself. Then went back to work. "Baddeck to Washington, has there been any clue to what caused this yet?" I asked.

"Negative Baddeck, no item or object has not been found as of.." the speaker was interrupted by screaming and small arms gunfire. "Gah! What is that thing!? Fire! Fire! Fire! It's moving too quick! It's on me!! It's on me!! Hold fire!! It's running!! Lockdown this sector of the ship, all decks!! Lock it down now!!"

There was a faint noise barely audible behind all the yelling and shooting. I ordered the techs to go back over the playback and try to cut out the guns and words, then to slowly remove any other noises that was recognizable one by one until…

"KURI!! KURI!!"

"What in the world is that noise?" Shelly asked.

"I don't know yet, it sounds familiar but strange. Analyze this thoroughly!" I ordered.

To be continued...


End file.
